


Extraterrestrial Registration Act

by RenkonNairu



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Discrimination, F/M, Gen, Hysteria, Omniverse does not exist/never happened, Xenophilia, Xenophobia, racial profiling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 17:04:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3496148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenkonNairu/pseuds/RenkonNairu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>DISCONTINUED! </p><p>-Post Ultimate Alien, Omniverse never happened/does not exist- </p><p>After Ben was exposed to the world, it was only a matter of tim before the world started listening to Will Harangue. The fiasco with the Esoterica was probably the last straw. But nobody expected the world to act like this. (M-rating for mature/dark concepts, the occasional F-word, and Gwevin sexual tension.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Opinion Governs

_"Opinion governs the world, but in the long run, it is wise to govern opinion."_ -Voltaire

...

It didn't start out terrible. But then, few things do.

Perhaps the true beginning of the hysteria could be drawn back to the defeat of Diagon. Everyone all over the world suddenly woke up as if from sleepwalking and had no idea what they'd been doing or how some of them got where they were. Of course, no one had any memory of becoming Esoterica or slipping between dimensions to cross the globe and fight Ben Tennyson and his allies. They were just living their normal lives one moment and then the next it was a whole day later, people found themselves in places they had no business being, and with no recollection of how they got there. Family's were separated. People were misplaced in the confusion and the shuffle. 

But probably the worst part was that the whole planet was affected. Every person across every country in the world. It wasn't just a Bellwood problem. It wasn't even an American problem. It was everyone. Everywhere. 

There was really no sweeping this one under the rug. 

After an immeasurably long meeting, in which Ben Tennyson and his entourage were debriefed thoroughly, the United Nations issued a press statement. They painted Ben as a hero and gave him all the credit he felt he was due (which did nothing to improve his ego). But then they made the move that would later be identified as the spark that started the ET hysteria. 

While the leaders of most of the major governments of the Earth knew of and recognized the Plumbers as intergalactic peace keepers, up to that moment, they had all kept the Plumbers' existence, and by extension the existence of extraterrestrial life, a secret. But that all changed during the UN press conference where the representative of the United States stood and admitted to working with the interstellar space-cops. 

Suddenly everything changed over night. 

The world had just gotten a lot bigger. Not only was there a great big universe out there, but it was populated by all manner of peoples and creatures. All with unique and rich cultures. Strange ideas. And terrible dangers. 

Science changed. 

Philosophy changed. 

Religion changed. 

Economy changed. 

Society changed. 

And then people started asking questions like, 'If they've known about aliens since the 50s, are there any aliens living among us?', 'How do I know my neighbors are who they say they are?' and most important of all, 'Are we safe?'

Slogans started appeared tagged on billboards or on the sides of city buses, 'EARTH is for EARTHLINGS!' and 'ET Go Home!' 

But these were just words. Meaningless hot air painted by uneducated philistines who didn't know any better. That is, until someone took that attitude and those slogans and gave them power. More importantly, gave them a force and purpose. 

About a year after the defeat of Diagon, a new political party formed in the US. Crazier than the Tea Party had ever been, was the Forever Party, founded -unsurprisingly- by the leaders of the Forever Knights. The faction leaders seeing a golden opportunity in the chaos put their personal feuds aside and united the order, shifting their tactics from practical to political. Will Harangue praised the party's platform, hoisting up their fringe group from the peripheral of political attention to front and center. The more attention it got, the more favor it garnered with conservative voters. 

No one was quite sure how, but somehow, Cyrus Downes (whom Ben had only ever known as 'Sir Cyrus') made it into the Senate. 

That was when the Extraterrestrial Registration Act was proposed. 

…

"Its completely ridiculous!" Gwen exclaimed, snapping the lid of her lap-top down with perhaps a bit more force than she should have. She slid the computer to the side and grabbed the smoothie cup closest to her, gulping it down in frustration. It was only after the second sip, however, that she realized it was not her macha green tea with kale that she was was slurping down, but rather Ben's Everything Surprise smoothie. (The surprise was expired candied cherries.)

There was no way to spit it back out discreetly, so she was forced to swallow. 

Kevin sympathetically pushed her own smoothie closer to her. 

Ben, for his part, was completely oblivious to his cousin's accidental bogarting of his beverage, as he was preoccupied signing an autograph. "There you go." He smiled as the girl and her screaming friends trotted away. 'I'll never wash this arm again!' The Savior of the Universe then returned to the conversation. "Sorry, what were we talking about?"

"ET Registration." Kevin reminded him. 

"Oh, yeah. We've been talking about that in my social studies class." He said, proud of the fact that he was actually informed about something without Gwen having to be the one to educate him. "I'm actually looking forward to it. It'll make our job a lot easier. Don't ya think?"

This time it was Kevin's turn to slam something down with a bit more force than he should have. His own smoothie cup was half-way to his lips when Ben spoke and Kevin slammed it back down without taking a single sip. "Are you stupid?"

Ben glanced between the two of them in confusion, not understanding the upset here. "Wait, you guys don't like the idea?" He asked. "But think how much easier it will be if we need to find someone we need. -Like Argit! How many times have we worked with or against Argit these past two years? But if we needed him right now, do either of you know how to get in touch with him?"

"Yes." Kevin said without hesitation. He did not elaborate on how he gets in touch with his tech dealing friends. 

"I can find him if I need to." Gwen supplied. Then shook her head. "But that's not the point, Ben. The point is that they are singling out a specific group. You don't see the government asking for a Middle Aged White Male Registration. They're isolating a specific group and demanding that group limit their own freedoms by signing away their basic right to privacy. Its a violation of basic human rights." 

"How?" Ben asked, skeptically. 

"The government is demanding to know where you are every second of the day." Kevin supplied. 

"And that implies to people who don't know any better that those who are registered are dangerous or have something wrong with them which is why they 'need' to be watched." Gwen elaborated. "It encourages -almost justifies- people to discriminate." 

Ben looked between the two of them skeptically. It couldn't be all that bad. He understood why Kevin was against it. The Registration Act would make it more difficult for him to conduct his side business. Black market alien tech dealer. It would make it harder for him to set up meetings, broker deals, acquire new product, or line up new clients. Maybe the Act would force him to actually go strait. For real this time. And, quite frankly, Ben did not have a problem with that. 

They stared back at him, as if not understanding why he wasn't agreeing with them. 

"Ben, what exactly did they tell you in your social studies class? Did you even read the proposition?" Gwen asked in her 'I'm being patient' voice. 

There was a moment's pause before his answer as Ben sipped his smoothy, completely unconcerned. "Mr. Fisher explained that its no different than the Megan's Law. Ya know, the sex offender registry." 

They continued to stare at him, now with horror. 

"Your teacher is comparing aliens to rapists and child molesters?" Kevin blinked in disbelief. Suddenly, he decided he wasn't missing anything by never attending high school. If that's the way they were teaching. Jeez. 

Gwen put her face in her hands. "Ugh! I can't believe Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra leave you in the crappy public school!" She moaned. As if public school was the worst thing since the invention of bad things. "First of all, a person can be added to the Sex Offender Database for something as innocent as sleeping with his girlfriend before she turns eighteen. Not everyone in the Sex Offender Registry is a rapist or child molester. But because they're on the registry, everyone thinks they are because that's who they're grouped together with. The exact same thing will happen with ET Registration. Secondly, you do realize that you are one of the people who will have to be registered, right?"

Ben blinked at her. "Huh? But I'm human. I mean, when I'm not using the Omnitrix, I'm just a normal guy."

"Dude, your grandmother's a scary Anodite." Kevin reminded him. "Ya got alien blood in you whether is shows or not. If you had taken the time to actually read the proposition you'd know that anyone with an alien ancestor as recent as six generations ago, then they're counted as an alien as well and have to be registered. That means you, Gwen, Gwen's brother Ken, your uncle, and your dad."

This was a very good point. At least, Gwen thought it was. But, as per usual, Ben picked up on the wrong detail. "Wait, you actually read the proposition? Wow."

Actually, he hadn't. Gwen read it to him while he was working on his ride. But she read it word for word and helped explain the parts he didn't understand. So, it was actually better than having read it himself. Maybe Ben should get Julie to read it to him.

"Ben, I don't think you're understanding the problem here." 

"Well, maybe that's because I don't think there is a problem." He crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. 

With a groan, Gwen tried one more tactic. "The Registration was proposed by Sir Cyrus. Doesn't that make you just a little suspicious? I mean, the Forever Knights have been the bad guys since… forever!"

"Now, Gwen, that's just not true." Ben shook his head as if explaining something to a child. "Have you already forgotten how they helped us defeat Diagon. We've buried that hatchet. They're on our side now. I'm sure the ET Registration Act is their attempt to make things easier for us to do our job."

"Man, you are naive on an olympic level." Kevin shook his head and sipped his smoothie. 

…

Studying was near impossible. Gwen was no stranger to distraction. There was always some new crisis going on in her life that seemed intent on pulling her away from her school work or extracurriculars. But it was usually something material. Something she could fight. But this… in this one instance, Gwen was truly powerless. She was only seventeen and not yet old enough to vote (not that she thought her one, single, individual vote would matter all that much). So, she tried pushing it out of her mind to focus on her essay. A short piece on the US's Internment of Japanese-American citizens. But her mind kept straying back to the ETRA -the Extraterrestrial Registration Act! 

Studying was hopeless right now. She couldn't focus. Gwen reached for her phone. 

Usually, Kevin was the one calling her begging to hang out and she was the one telling him to find something to do because she had to study. This time, that role was reversed. She dialed her boyfriend, counting the rings before he answered. Kevin picked up on the third ring. 

"Hey, Babe." He sounded slightly distracted. There was the sound of shuffling papers in the background and she wondered what she had caught him in the middle of doing. Not reading, Kevin Ethan Levin didn't do that sort of stuff. It would be nice if he was studying for his GED, but Gwen had the feeling that also wasn't happening. 

"I'm not disturbing you, am I?" She asked. 

"Nah." He assured her. "Just sorting invoices and going through some old client lists."

Invoices and client lists. Wait, Kevin did actual paperwork with his black market and underground dealings? Wow. Gwen had genuinely not been expecting that. She thought the whole set up was supposed to be anonymous. 

But then, after a longer moment of reflection, she remembered that Kevin wasn't dumb. It was a smart move to keep a record of everyone who ever bought or sold contraband to him, on the off chance that he was caught and arrested (which was not likely since the only Plumbers on the planet were all close friends of his) he would have something of value to cut a deal with. Give-up his clients and supplies in exchange for the charges being dropped. Or, if a relationship with a client turned south, he would have sufficient blackmail material to keep them from turning on him. 

He didn't show it often, but Kevin was very smart. It was one of the things that Gwen liked about him. 

"I can't study." She said. "Wanna come pick me up? I just wanna drive around for a while." 

It was a nice night. At least, the night looked nice from her bedroom window. A bit cold. It was early November. But the sky was so clear. Not a cloud in the sky and Gwen was sure that if they got out of the city and away from all the light-pollution they would be able to see the stars. Splayed out across the sky for them. Open and free. 

"I'll be over in less than five minutes."

Sure enough, Kevin's green and black muscle car pulled into her driveway about the same time Gwen was pulling on her coat. Making sure she had her keys, wallet and cell phone, she dashed out and climbed in the passenger seat. 

"Where do you wanna go?" He asked. 

"Somewhere where we can see the stars." She replied. 

"The lake it is then." 

The ride out of town was relatively easy with little traffic. It being a weeknight, no one was really out partying. Anyone with any sense of responsibility was already home and getting ready for work or school the next morning. Gwen wanted to ask Kevin about his invoices and client lists, but she didn't, and he didn't volunteer any information. While she and Ben both knew that he continued his side business and he made no secret that business was good, they did not actually discuss it at length. They were still Plumbers (Kevin included), and it was still technically illegal. 

"Ya know, I'm gonna be turning eighteen soon." He said randomly as they neared the outskirts of town.

That was a non-sequitur. "I know. November eleventh. 11/11. Easy to remember." She smiled. Kevin 11's birthday was on eleven/eleven. "But voting day is November fifth. You turn eighteen too late to make a difference with the ETRA." 

"That, uh, that's not actually what I was thinking about." He admitted. 

They pulled up to the lake. Its surface was smooth and glassy, the slightest of breezes causing soft ripples that made the reflected starlight dance. It was a beautiful visual effect, and -in Kevin's opinion- highly romantic. He could only imagine Gwen's purpose in brining him here might be... 

"I was just wondering about what you said today during our conversation with Ben." He explained. "About eighteen-year-old boys… and their under-aged girlfriends…"

Gwen cast her brain around, trying to remember the snippet of conversation he was referring to. She remembered Ben thinking there was nothing wrong with the ETR Act. And boy, did that piss her off to no end! She and Kevin tried to explain things to him, make him understand exactly why it was bad, but in classic Ben fashion he just brushed off all their arguments. He was stubborn. Once he made up his mind about something, it usually took a full length adventure to change his mind or teach him his lesson. 

"Remind me what I said?" Gwen asked. 

"When Ben compared ET Registration to the Megan's Law." Kevin supplied. "You mentioned something about sleeping together before you turn eighteen…"

"Oh. That." Her face turned red. Truth be told, that specific example had slipped its way into her argument because it was something she'd been thinking about for some time now. Gwen and Kevin had been together for two years now -an uncommonly long relationship for people in their age bracket- and yet they had not gone that far. In fact, they hadn't even talked about the possibility of going that far. There just never seemed to be sufficient time or opportunity for them to. 

They were always running from one mission and monster battle to the next. Or doing research on a new threat. Or trying to put their civilian lives back together after a crisis. By the time they finished with all that, there was just barely enough time to rest before the cycle repeated itself. There just wasn't room in their schedules for them to sequester themselves in a private place, take off all their clothes and be vulnerable together for ten minutes (or however long the act would take).

But that did not mean that Gwen was not interested. Because a woman did not stay with a man for two years if she wasn't interested in seeing him naked at some point. 

"Because, ya know, we never really have talked about… um, the sex thing." Aw! Kevin was so cute when he was blushing! Even in the dark, the starlight reflecting off the lake the only light to illuminate his face, Kevin's bright pink flush showed through. He put on such a big, strong, tough-guy front. But deep down, he was really just a big cuddly softie. That was one of the things that Gwen liked about him. A hard shell with a warm gooey center. He was like candy, but in man form, and she could just eat him up. "And I think we should talk about it. Because sex might be a bit more dangerous for us than for normal stupid teenagers."

That gave Gwen a moment's pause. "Dangerous? How? You think I'll lose control of my manna and blow you up or something?"

"No." He said very seriously. "I'm afraid I'll lose control and try to absorb you."

"Oh."

That… that might actually be a valid concern. Gwen was fairly certain that something like that wouldn't happen. He did have incredible control of his Osmosian abilities. But, at the same time, he had tried to absorb her before. When he was Ultimate Kevin. Although, that was when he was Ultimate Kevin, after he had absorbed the power of the Ultimatrix and Aggregor and was suffering from Energy Madness because of it. Kevin wasn't exactly himself at that time and so all of his actions at that time must be examined with, if not a sympathetic eye, then at least an understanding one.

Yes, when Kevin was drunk on energy he was capable of anything. Even eating his girlfriend. But that was only after he'd already absorbed a great deal of energy. But at his daily baseline, Kevin functioned just like any other normal human teenager. Who fought aliens. He functioned like any normal human teenager who fought aliens. But she also functioned like a normal teenager at her own baseline and she was just as capable of destroying him if she lost control as he was of destroying her. And Gwen suddenly realized that the fact that he saw himself as a threat but not her was kinda bothersome. Between the two of them, she felt she was the more effective predator -mostly because no one ever thought of her as a predator. 

"I don't think you will." She informed him with all the confidence of someone who had worked through several thought experiments of the scenario. "You need to make a conscious effort to absorb things and I guarantee you, that will be the last thing you're thinking about with me. But if you wanna play the danger game, my manna fluctuates with my emotions. It is totally feasible to think I might lose control during climax and blow you to pieces."

"Ah, but what a glorious way to go…" Kevin mused, a smug smile crossing his lips. 

She punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Kevin!"

They lapsed into a momentary silence then. Neither really have anything more to say on the subject of accidentally killing your partner mid-coitus. But then, their's was not a relationship that had to be filled with constant chatter. It was enough that they had each other's company. It was early November and just a bit to cold to get out and sit on the hood, so they stayed in the car. Watching the starlight reflecting off the lake water. 

With a sigh, Kevin stretched and draped an arm over Gwen's shoulders. It was a little hard to get close with the stick-shift in the way, but Gwen leaned into the embrace as much as she physically could without uncomfortably bumping herself on the center console. 

"Do you want to?" He asked suddenly. 

"Want to what?" She asked. 

"Have sex… with me?" Kevin clarified. It was her idea to come out here. They were all alone. No other cars around. No campers. By a dark glassy lake. Starlight reflected on the gently dancing water. It was an adequately romantic setting for them to exchange virginities in and Kevin would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in giving his virginity to her. 

The answer to that question was, 'yes'. Yes, Gwen wanted to go all the way with Kevin. They had been together for far longer than any of her friends had been with their respective significant others. She had seen Kevin at his worst -his absolute worst- and had never stopped loving him, not even for a second. She often fantasized about pinning him down and ripping his shirt off. They had seen each other in varying stages of 'unclothed' before. But those were all within the context of a battle, or a mission, or in a social setting like the beach with other people around. She had never seen him unclothed in a place where she had the opportunity to run her hands over those perfectly sculpted muscles, or bite the insides of his thighs…

So, yes, Gwen did indeed want to have sex with Kevin. But as she pointed out in their conversation earlier today -which wasn't even about this- there were other reasons they should wait. Kevin was going to be turning eighteen in a little less than a week, but she would remain seventeen until mid-summer. That was a whole six months her parents would have to decide they didn't actually like Kevin and get him arrested. -Not that Gwen believed a terrestrial jail-cell could hole him, but that wasn't the point. 

With everything else going on with the ET Registration Act being pushed to a vote, that was the last thing they needed. Just one more unnecessary stressor. One more pointless distraction. 

So it was more out of practicality than actual need of the time that Gwen replied, "When I'm eighteen, yes. Its just another six months away. If we can wait two years, we can wait until we're both eighteen."

"Okay…" Was that disappointment she heard in his voice? Wasn't he just talking about how sex would be a bad idea because he might absorb her. Hmph. Looks like Gwen wasn't the only one with mixed feelings about doing the hibbity-dibbity. "Want me to take you home now?"

"No." She leaned over and kissed him. "We won't have sex. But we can do just about everything up to it."

"Everything up to it?"

"Mm-hmm." Gwen climbed over the stick shift to sit on Kevin's lap, straddling his thighs and was pleased by the deepening of the color in his cheeks. 

She started slow and chase. Light kisses on his forehead and cheeks, making her way to his lips. When she got to his mouth the kiss was not chase. But deep and passionate, her tongue flicking out experimentally, requesting entrance. Kevin obliged her without hesitation, his own lips parting to let her in gladly, and he moaned at the sensation of her tongue exploring his mouth. Sliding over his own tongue, not quite reaching the back of his throat. Hesitantly, not sure if he was supposed to or not, Kevin let his own tongue slither into her mouth, doing some sliding and exploring of his own. 

She must have approved of his action, because Gwen moaned with appreciation when he did. Her hips jerking involuntarily, her pelvis sliding over the quickly rising tent in his jeans. Kevin gasped at the sensation, breaking their kiss. 

"That was… We're not… I thought you said you didn't want to have sex." He muttered, stumbling of his words, finding himself inexplicably lightheaded. 

"We're not having sex." Gwen assured him. She moved her attentions from his lips to his neck, her breath warm against his skin. "We're just doing everything else."

Her teeth closed over the juncture between his neck and shoulder, biting and pinching the skin there. Sucking slightly. Kevin groaned, his own hips bucking up into hers, and a soft whine of desperation escaped him when he discovered that he was still imprisoned within his own clothing. When Gwen lifted her mouth, there was a dark red -almost purple- mark left there. She liked that -leaving her mark on him. Like a brand. Kevin belonged to her. She grabbed a fist full of his hair, pulling his head to the other side and closing her teeth over the same spot on the opposite side. 

"God, Gwen! You're so…" He groaned again, keening at her ministrations, unable to complete a thought or sentences. 

One of her hands snaked down to stroke the tent straining upwards between her legs. "Is this all you?"

"Don't know what else it would be." He moaned under her hand. Even through the thick fabric of his jeans, her hand felt so fucking good! What would it feel like with nothing between them? When it was just skin against skin. Suddenly six months seemed like far to long to wait to have her. He snaked a hand between her legs, slithering under her skirt. Her leggings were in the way, but that didn't stop him from trying to stroke her through her clothing like she was stroking him. He was surprised to find just how warm and moist fabric of her leggings was.

"Kevin-!" She gasped. 

He froze instantly, interpreting her exclamation as protest.

"Don't- don't stop." Gwen begged, her head falling into his chest, her hand redoubling its efforts on his tent. Stroking faster, squeezing the denim tighter. 

"Fuck! Gwen, if you keep doing that, you're gonna make me cum!" He moaned. She was gonna make him cum without ever actually touching his skin! God! She was amazing!

"I wanna cum too." She panted. Her hand moved faster. 

Kevin redoubled his efforts stroking the juncture between her thighs. Alternating between rubbing -what he assumed was- her slit with his knuckles and gently poking at it with two fingers, trying to stretch the fabric of her leggings enough to get something inside. God! He wanted to be inside her! If her clothing was this wet, what would it be like when she was naked? Bare and open to him.

Just the idea of Gwen wet, open, and exposed was enough to push him over the edge and Kevin groaned as his climax shook him. His hands grabbing her thighs, fingers digging into the fabric of her tights as he spilled all over the inside of his briefs. He sat there panting. "That was… that was…"

"Disappointing." Gwen sighed. 

"What?" He blinked, a little delirious. 

"I didn't get to cum." She whined. 

"I'll make you cum." Kevin promised. He lifted her off his lap and -very ungently- tossed her back into the passenger seat. But he didn't let her sit properly. Instead Kevin lifted one of her legs by the ankle, forcing her to lay sideways in an awkward and uncomfortable position in the tight space. With his other hand, he reached up her skirt to the waistband of her leggings and had just started pulling them down when she stopped him. 

One hand closing around his wrist, the other pined between her face and the window. She wriggled out of his grasp and maneuvered herself until she was sitting properly in the passenger seat. "No… Its getting late and I have school tomorrow. You can make me cum tomorrow."


	2. Minimum of Reason

_"Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason."_ -Abraham Joshua Heshel 

…

Ben raised his hand. He was rarely an active participant in class. But after his discussion with Gwen and Kevin yesterday he had questions. 

The teacher paused in his lesson. Benjamin Kirby Tennyson never raised his hand. Benjamin Kirby Tennyson usually just sat there with a vacant expression on his face waiting for school to let out so he could go fight monsters and wreak havoc on the city. Again, and again, and again. So it was with a bit of hesitation and confusion that the teacher said, "Yes? Tennyson. Something you'd like to share?"

"Mr. Fisher," he began, "I was talking about some of the things you said with my teammates and Gwen thinks that the ETRA will encourage discrimination." 

It was not phrased as a question. But it was still no less clear what he was asking. Was this new law proposed more out of xenophobia or 'xeno-racism' rather than an actual motivation to protect civilian well-being?

"That is an excellent question, Mr. Tennyson." Fisher began. "I'll answer it with another question: how would the average person on the street be able to tell someone is an extraterrestrial? The Registry is just a list for the government to keep track of its extra-human citizens, it is not like its going to be posted on a billboard who is and isn't of alien descent. Take yourself for example, none could tell by looking at you that you are anything more than an ordinary boy. The ETRA isn't legalized bullying. Its meant to be a tool to help protect people."

Ben leaned back in his seat, feeling much better. Gwen and Kevin were just over-reacting. Kevin, probably because he did a lot of illegal business with a lot of shady characters, and Gwen because Kevin was her boyfriend and she didn't want him to get caught. 

Another student in the class raised her hand. "How exactly does it help protect people?" She asked. "If the information isn't released, how can it help anyone?"

"Well, as an example, lets say a crime is committed and the evidence indicates extraterrestrial involvement." Mr. Fisher began. "All a CSI would have to do is check the registry and see that there's a DNAlien registered as living two blocks away from the crime scene. Now, that doesn't mean that said hypothetical DNAlien had anything to do with the crime, but living so close to the scene, and being an ET, would seem a little to convenient to be a coincidence. It will help the authorities find the bad guys faster."

The whole class nodded along. That sounded logical. 

Ben thought about it a bit longer. The more he thought about it, the more he agreed with Mr. Fisher and the less he understood Gwen's point of view. They were Plumbers. Taking down evil aliens was their job. If the ETRA helped them do their job, what could be wrong with it? For once in their lives, Gwen did not know what she was talking about.

…

"You didn't have to drive me to school, ya know." Gwen said as her father pulled the car up to her school's front gate. 

Usually, if she didn't borrow her mother's car, Kevin was nice enough to give her a ride, or she would walk. But ever since this business with the ETRA started up, her parents didn't want her walking anywhere alone (as if Gwen couldn't take care of herself, ha!). And since Kevin wasn't available to chauffeur her, Frank decided to drop her off on the way to the firm. 

"I know I didn't have to." Frank smiled a plastic smile, the kind of friendly but completely fake stretching of his lips that he used in the courtroom. "But its never very often that you and I get to spend quality time together."

Yeah. Because sitting in silence during a seven minute drive is such good quality time. 

But Gwen understood. It was because of the ETRA. Frank didn't want his daughter to get harassed on her way to or from school, or any of her extracurriculars. She might not look it in the least, but everyone who owned a TV knew that Gwendolyn Tennyson had extraterrestrial blood in her. How often had Frank turned on the news to see his nephew fighting some new monster, and there was Gwen and her boyfriend right next to him. Everyone knew who they were. Benjamin Kirby Tennyson -shape changer. Kevin Ethan Levin -Osmosian. Gwendolyn Eleanor Tennyson -Anodite. The question wasn't whether or not anyone would bother his girl over her alien heritage. The question was when.

So, Gwen returned her father's plastic smile with a gentle and understanding one of her own. "I agree. Thanks, Daddy."

She was about to get out, but Frank stopped her. 

"And Kevin is going to pick you up, right?" He pressed. "If he doesn't show up, you call me, okay. Or you call Ben and have him come and meet you. I don't want you going anywhere alone. Understood?"

"I understand." Really, after all the great and terrible galactic dangers she'd braved, and sadistic conquerers she'd fought, it was a little annoying to be treated like a helpless little girl. But at the same time, Gwen had to acknowledge the fact that her father didn't see her as the powerful warrior that she was. Frank still saw her as his baby-girl and would probably always see her as his baby-girl. So, Gwen made a conscious effort not to get frustrated with her father. 

"Don't worry." Frank continued, now speaking more to himself than to Gwen. "I've read the ETRA cover-to-cover and it'll never pass. Its unconstitutional. There's nothing to worry about."

"Thank you, Daddy." She said again. This time Gwen did get out of the car. If she was kept much longer she would be late for her first class. 

Frank watched her. Making sure his daughter was safely inside the building before he drove away. He was fifteen minutes late for his first meeting of the day, but it was an old client who also had a daughter and so he understood. 

Gwen meanwhile walked through the halls of Bellwood Prep, late and in a rush, but still not completely oblivious to the stares people were giving her. This in and of itself wasn't all that new or strange. When Ben's identity first became public -and by extortion, her's and Kevin's- she received more than enough awkward or disbelieving stares to last a life time. At the start of the new term, a number of freshmen would also be caught pausing to stare at her in the halls or on the lawn. But over all, the stares had tapered off and all but stopped by the time they teamed up with SIr George. 

But ever since the Forever Party had taken its hold, and the Extraterrestrial Registration Act was being pushed through, those stares had begun anew. 

She tried to ignore them as she pulled open her locker. There was a tiny piece of tape on the door, as if a note had been taped to her locker but was ripped off. Gwen didn't have the time to think on it though. She just barely managed to grab her Advanced Statistical Analysis textbook and slip inside the classroom just after the bell rang. The teacher eyed her as she took her seat. 

"Class," she said, "here we have a perfect example of a statistical inevitability. Gwendolyn Tennyson, who has near perfect attendance, was finally late to class." 

…

Kevin planned to take Gwen to school. 

He woke up that morning no different than any other day. Perhaps with a few more love-bites that usual, but really no different than any other day. 

The first thing he did, before breakfast, before putting on proper cloths (he wore only yesterday's jeans and nothing else), before brushing his teeth, was walk out of the house and crossed the lawn to the garage to say good morning to his baby. His car. His most precious Ride. But before he raised the garage door to begin whispering sweet nothings into his sweet Ride's undercarriage, Kevin froze, staring at the garage door. At what was written across the garage door in heavily dripping red spray paint. 

'U R Not Welcome Here' With a poorly drawn doodle of a flying saucer with an X over it. 

Kevin glanced up and down his street, searching for anyone what might be watching his house to see his reaction. Because, really, what was the point of this kind of stupid vandalism if it wasn't to see someone's face when they found it. But there was no one out this early except the paper-boy and he had his back to Kevin, riding his bike in the opposite direction. Momentarily, he considered trying to track down the vandal and beat the crap out of them. No. Beat them with their own paint can. That was better. 

But that irksome streak of 'better-judgment' he'd been on for the past two years, since re-meeting Gwen and her cousin, stopped him. There were better ways he could spend his time. Cleaning it off, for one. 

Today was his mom's mid-shift at the clinic which meant that she was still asleep right now. But when she did wake up and come out to her car… she would freak! It was bad enough that she had to leave their home in New York because of him, and that her second husband left her because of him. She didn't need to think the neighborhood didn't want her here because of him too. And, quite frankly, Kevin didn't need her thinking that either. Leah was his mother and she loved him, but their relationship did have a layer of tension that most mother-son relationships didn't suffer from. And it was all because of his Osmosian powers. 

Sometimes, Kevin wondered how things would have been different if his father had lived and was around when his abilities first started emerging. If Devin was there to teach him how to temper his energy cravings would he have been less volatile? Would he not have demolished their New York house and run away? Probably. But then, that also meant that he'd never met Ben, or more importantly, he never would have met Gwen.

And that would have made that happy hypothetical life tragic. Maybe it was a bit melodramatic to say, after all, he was still just a teenager and teen relationships never lasted. But at this point in his life, Kevin was pretty sure he couldn't live without Gwendolyn Tennyson. 

But he also couldn't live without his car or his mom's garage to keep said car in. 

Which brought Kevin back to his current situation. Figuring out what to do about the graffiti before his mother saw it and freaked the fuck out!

Sighing with resignation, Kevin placed both palms against the cool metal of the garage door. He absorbed just enough of the matter to be able to manipulate it and focused on shifting the aluminum and steel to blur and disperse the paint that was adhered to it. But when he opened his eyes again, the paint was still there. Even more annoyed than he was already, Kevin gave the paint a more critical examination -and discovered that it wasn't spray paint, but rather spray rubber. Something used to seal cracks or tiny holes in concrete, wood, and metals. Kevin had a couple of cans of it in his own garage. But he wouldn't get it off by shifting the metal of the door. He would have to scrape it off. 

He looked at the time and realized he wouldn't be able to both clean it off before his mom came out and saw it, and take Gwen to school. Gwen could take care of herself. Kevin had learned that fact through experience, both beating enemies side by side with her and being the enemy that needed the beating. She didn't really need him to play bodyguard -even if doing so did win him major brownie points with her father. His mother on the other hand, would have an aneurysm if she came out and saw this. Thinking of it that way, Kevin made a decision. 

Pulling out his cell phone he scrolled through his contacts until he found Frank Tennyson. "Hey, this is Kevin. Listen, something came up at home and I won't be able to take Gwen to school this morning. Don't worry, I'll still pick her up. Okay, thanks, Frank -uh, Mr. Tennyson. You have a good morning too."

That done, he lifted the door just enough to slip inside his garage to select a solvent and a scraper. 

Kevin worked at it for about two hours before Leah finally dashed out the front door, pulling a sweater on as she ran, a slice of toast between her teeth. She paused just a moment long enough to notice her son crouched in front of the garage door scraping something off. Taking a closer look, she managed to decipher the words '-come here' and a weird doodle of what looked like a hula-hoop with legs and an X. 

"What's this?" She asked. 

"Its nothing, Mom." Kevin assured her. "I'll take care of it."

"Is that supposed to be a pornographic drawing?" She asked. She couldn't quite figure out what the doodle was supposed to be, but her son seemed very determined to get it off the garage door. 

Kevin groaned in frustration. "No. Its not a- I mean, yeah! Yeah, its a dirty drawing. I'm cleaning it off before the neighbors get offended. Probably just kids being asshats. Nothing you need to worry about. Have a good day at work, Mom." A pause. "And… be safe. I'll be out with Gwen this afternoon, but if you need me for anything, anything at all, you call me. Okay?"

"You've been spending a lot of time with Gwen, haven't you. Without Ben, I mean." Leah just skipped past the part where he seemed to think she might need him to come rescue her. She wasn't stupid. If whatever he was scraping off the garage was more offensive than porn, and he wanted to spare her feelings by making her think it was the lesser offending thing. Considering everything that was going on with the ET Registration Act, chances are it was probably a hate message. She made a mental note to talk to him about some of the things her grandfather told her about living in Krakow in the early 40s. 

"Ben's also being an asshat right now." Kevin informed her. 

"Well, if you continue to see her without a chaperone, I think you should invest in a turtleneck, or some foundation." She smiled a knowing smile. Kevin's cheeks went red as his hands went to his neck, realizing that the love-bites and hickies she'd left there were on full display. "You aren't sleeping with her, though, are you?"

"No, Mom!" Kevin turned bright, bright red. "We aren't sleeping together." Not that it would be something he would share with his mother if they did. They were waiting until she turned eighteen this summer. Not that that was any of Leah's business. 

"Good." And she made a second mental note to also talk to him about what Devin told her about Osmosians and mates. "Bring her by for dinner some time soon. It'd be nice to meet her at least once without the house being demolished by intergalactic terrorists."

"Okay, Mom." Kevin promised, his hands still attempting to cover the evidence of their un-chaperoned rendezvous peppered all over his neck. 

Leah climbed into her car and drove off. She was just barely on time for work.

Kevin, meanwhile took another hour to finally get the last of it off his garage door. By the end of it, he was thoroughly pissed off and once again considering returning to his old ways of violence and vengeance, tracking down whatever dip-shit tagged his garage, and pounding the ever-living crap out of them. But he was also tired. And his stomach quickly reminded him that he hadn't yet had breakfast. Or brushed his teeth. Or showered. So, he replaced the solvent and scraper back where he'd got them and went back to the house for some cereal and maybe some wine (Leah always kept Manischewitz in stock).

After that he brushed his teeth and took a longer than usual shower. He wanted to smell nice when his picked Gwen up, that and the hot water helped ease some of his tension. By the time that was over, it was time for Kevin to leave. 

He pulled up to Bellwood Prep's gate just as the final bell rang. 

The student's filed out, anxious to be out and free. It was a feeling Kevin couldn't completely empathize with never having attended school beyond the fifth grade, but he understood the general sentiment. He watched the crowd, looking for Gwen's red-gold pony-tail. He finally saw her pushing Emily's chair down the accessibility ramp. Emily saw him before Gwen did and she muttered something to the red-head. Gwen smiled a helpful smile and disappeared back into the building. Emily wheeled herself right up to Kevin's car. 

"I didn't want to say this in front of Gwen," she began, no exchange of pleasantries, just right down to business. Emily pulled a piece of notebook paper out of her school bad and handed it to him through the window. Kevin had to reach across the empty passenger seat to accept it. Written across it in red marker was 'For human use only.' "I found it taped to Gwen's locker this morning before she got dropped off. I took it off before she could see, but I thought someone should know."

"Do you know who wrote it?" Kevin asked. If someone was threatening his Gwen then someone was cruising for a bruising -and then some. 

"No. It was already there when I arrived." Emily shook her head. 

She might have said more, but Gwen appeared then. Jogging up to them, carrying a book which she handed to her friend. "Here ya go. This is the one you left behind, right?"

"Yup. Thanks, Gwen." Emily smiled and Kevin was impressed by her ability to keep of a straight face. She didn't have any tells. There was no indication that she was keeping something from her friend. The woman would have made an excellent con-artist, or spy. "I'll stop boring your boyfriend now. Kevin was kind enough to keep me entertained while we waited for you."

Gwen cast an affectionate smile his way. "He does try so hard, doesn't he."

"I trust him with you." Was Emily's cryptic response. "But I'll let you go now. Someone should attend to that neck of his, looks like he's developing leprosy." 

She rolled away giggling at the identical shades of pink they both turned. Gwen took a deep breath and sighed, attempting to appear casual as she opened the door and climbed into the car. 

"Are we meeting Ben anywhere today?" He asked, attempting to change the subject. 

"No. I'm still mad at him." She shook her head. "Wanna come over to my house? My parents won't be home yet."

"Oh?"

...

When Ben arrived home from school, it was to find Colonel Rozum sitting on his living room couch with two men in suits Ben did not recognize, all being served tea by his mother. 

"…Its a Kava blend with Indian sarsaparilla root, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom seeds. For stress relief." Sandra was saying. She looked up when Ben closed the door behind him. "Oh, hi honey. Welcome home. Some of your friends came over to see you."

Colonel Rozum stood, setting his tea cup down on the coffee table. Ben got the feeling he was glad for the excuse not to drink Sandra's weird hippy tea. Ben didn't blame him. His mom had weird tastes some times. But the two suits flanking the Colonel also stood, and that made Ben nervous. The last time he saw Rozum they had parted in a bit of a disagreement and a stalemate. What did the Colonel want now?

He cleared his throat, no doubt equally aware of the fact that they hadn't parted on such friendly terms last time. "The polls have closed." He began. "The results won't be officially released until tomorrow morning, but unofficially I am here to tell you that the ETRA passed and my superiors would take it as a sign of good faith if you and your team were to be the first to register."

"It passed? That's great!" Ben almost whooped, his life just becoming so much easier. But he contained his enthusiasm to just a simple smile. "Of course I'll register! But… Gwen and Kevin aren't so thrilled with the idea. I'll have some trouble convincing them."

The Colonel looked equal parts relived and apprehensive. "Well, I hope you can change their minds by tomorrow morning. Once the voting results are announced my superiors want to have press coverage of your registration. They'll have camera's follow you up to the Bellwood City Hall and they might ask for a statement or two -from all three of you." 

"I'll talk to them." Ben promised. It was about all he could do, really. But he already had a feeling they wouldn't go along with it. But that would just mean that he wouldn't have to share the spotlight tomorrow. So it was no great loss. Right?

Rozum replaced his hat on his head. "That's all I came to say. I'll see you tomorrow at o-800. Obviously, you're excused from school for that day. It's already been cleared with your mother."

He moved to leave, the two suits -which remained silent through out the whole exchange- following after him. 

"Colonel Rozum?" Ben paused him at the door. "I was just wondering… The Pentagon put you in charge of 'the weird stuff' so you work closely with aliens, mutants, and robots. What do you thick of the ETRA?"

"Obviously. It makes my job easier." He supplied without hesitation. Then, after a pause, "But… It should stop at registration. That's it. I don't want to have to deal with a Kristallnacht here in the States."

Ben didn't know what that was, but he didn't get the opportunity to ask as the Colonel was already leaving. So Ben shrugged. He'd ask Gwen about it when he saw her. He had to speak to both her and Kevin about tomorrow anyway. He left his backpack on the couch. "I'm going over the Uncle Frank and Aunt Natalie's place. Don't wait up for me. 'Kay, Mom?"

"Have fun dear, and be safe."


	3. Thinking Its Temporary

_"People have the problem of denial. This is one of the things I learned in Lebanon. Everybody who left Beirut when the war started, including my parents, said, 'Oh, its temporary.' It lasted 17 years! People tend to underestimate the gravity of these situations. That's how they work."_ -Nassim Nicholas Taleb

...

Kevin had Gwen splayed across her bed -clothes still on! She was very adamant about that. Having two layers of fabric in the way did make his job a bit difficult. Just how much of his fingers was she really feeling with her leggings and panties between him and the hot and moist center between her thighs? But he promised her he'd make her cum. And he kinda promised himself too. After all, what kind of man was he if he couldn't satisfy his woman?

He might have even gotten her to a climax, too. 

That is, if Ben -as Spider Monkey- hadn't poked his head in through her window and asked, "Hey, guys! What'cha doing?"

Needless to say, they were both startled out of the mood. 

Kevin fell off the edge of her bed. Hitting the floor hard enough to shake the room. While Gwen flailed madly, desperate to sit up properly and straiten her skirt so that she didn't look like she was just laying with legs spread, knees up around her head. 

"Damn it, Tennyson! Knock! Knock next time! Sonofabitch!" Kevin was sputtering, red in the face and flustered to all hell. 

"Did you need something, Ben?" Gwen asked, only slightly more collected, but still just as red in the face. 

Ben reverted back to his human form and climbed in through the window. He pulled out the chair to Gwen's desk and straddled it backwards, resting his arms on its back -and looked at them. Kevin, sprawled on the floor, Gwen stiff and tense on the bed. Both red in the face. "What did I just walk in on?"

"None of your damn business!" Kevin snapped.

In an effort to steer Ben away from figuring out what exactly he'd just interrupted, Gwen reminded him, "Ben, I'm still irritated with you about yesterday. Are you here for something important? Do we have a mission? Or are you just board and have nothing better to do than bother me?"

His eyebrows came down as Ben turned serious. That gave Gwen her answer. He wasn't just fucking around, something important had come up. "Colonel Rozum was in my house when I got home from school today." He informed them. "He told me the ETRA passed and it'll be officially announced tomorrow."

"What!?" Both Gwen and Kevin exclaimed in unison. Both bolting to their feet. 

"They can't do that!" Kevin snarled. 

"Its an invasion of privacy and a violation of basic human rights!" Gwen growled in much the same tone. "Its unconstitutional. How did it pass!?"

Ben swallowed a lump of apprehension in his throat. Oh, yeah. They were not happy. That made the next thing he had to tell them all the more awkward and difficult. "Uh… Ahm, I, uh, I guess you're gonna be really pissed about this next part then." He began. When they turned to glare at him, silently demanding an explanation, he continued. "Rozum told me that his superiors want us to be the first to register. They wanna make a big deal of it. With cameras and reporters and everything."

"Like hell!" Kevin roared. "I'd rather be sent back to the Null Void."

"Its not a big deal, Kevin." Ben insisted. 

Gwen stepped between them, hoping to avoid the disagreement escalating into an actual fight that might leave her parents' house in shambles -again. (Seriously, her dad must have gotten some fantastic home-owners' insurance!) "Ben, think about this. The reason they want to make your registration public is because you're a very well know celebrity. To spite what Will Harangue says about you, you're very popular. Your registration will give the Act some credibility -something it is severally lacking. Do you really want to play into their hands?"

"Yeah! What she said." Kevin nodded. Gwen was always so much better at explaining things than he was. 

Ben sighed. He knew this wasn't going to go over well. But he promised Rozum he'd talk to them, so he at least had to make the attempt. Well, attempt made. They weren't gonna change their minds. Fan-freakin'-tastic. "Alright, look, I don't want to fight with you over this. Come to the registration if you want to. Its eight AM tomorrow at City Hall." 

"We won't be there." Gwen crossed her arms over her chest. "You shouldn't even be there. You have school!"

"I'm excused from it." He shrugged casually. 

Gwen did not look impressed. 

"Wanna get a smoothy?" Ben offered, in an attempt to ease the tension in the room.

"No. Get out." Kevin snarled. 

"Hey, this isn't your house. You can't kick me out." Ben shot back. 

"No. But I can." Gwen grabbed her cousin by the ear and dragged him downstairs. Wrenching open the front door, she shoved him outside. "Go home, Ben. I'm sick of having this debate with you and I don't wanna see you again until you can be more reasonable."

"I'm not the one who's being unreasonable here!" He shouted back. 

Gwen slammed the door in his face. 

Kevin followed them downstairs in silence. When Gwen slammed the door in her cousin's face, Kevin was in awe. "I have never been more attracted to you than I am at this moment." He said. It wasn't everyday that Gwen got so pissed off at Ben that she actually threw him out. He pulled her into a deep kiss. "Wanna go back upstairs and let me finish you off?"

"No." Gwen pulled away, shaking her head. "I'm really not in the mood anymore. Besides, my parents will be home soon."

He looked so disappointed. "Alright then. Do you wanna come over to my house for dinner? My mom invited you."

"That sounds nice."

…

"Aren't you gonna put a little olive oil in there?"

He suppressed a growl. Sometimes, she could be so irritating. "Gwen, I know how to boil water!"

There were very few things that Kevin knew how to cook for himself (that would also be edible for other people) but spaghetti was one of the things he was a master of. Spaghetti, grilled cheese sandwiches, and instant ramen. He could make that in his sleep! Gwen, on the other hand was a master at everything she tried, that included cooking. She was also incredibly bossy with mild micro-managing tendencies. It was one of the few traits of hers that Kevin did not love. That meant that she was constantly looking over his shoulder, questioning what he was doing or suggesting he should do it differently. 

"Where's your mom?" She asked, and Kevin wondered if he might be thinking that this invitation to dinner was more him trying to get her back in the mood for some over the clothes petter rather than an actual dinner with his mother. 

"She should be home soon." He assured her. Kevin opened a package of spaghetti noodles and pored the whole thing into the boiling water. "Her shifts at the free clinic sometimes run a little late."

"You should really add some oil to that. So the noodles don't stick together." Gwen insisted. 

"Do I tell you how to make that mushroom chicken with potatoes au gratin?" He snapped back. 

She threw her arms up in defeat. "Alright. Jeez, I was just trying to help."

Kevin was about to respond with something along the lines of 'I wanna be able to feed you myself.' or 'I can provide for my woman!' but he had the feeling that neither of those lines would go over very well with her. He thought they sounded passionate and romantic, but Gwen might interpret them as chauvinistic. Over the past two years he'd learned to think before just opening his mouth -something that Ben seemed incapable of learning. But they weren't gonna talk about Ben tonight. "Why don't you go sit down in the living room while I cook? You can watch whatever you like on Netflix." 

With a huff, Gwen walked out of the kitchen and sat on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest in displeasure. It was great that Kevin wanted to cook and all, but what was the point if he was doing it wrong. But whatever. He would see that she was right eventually. She reached for the TV remote but changed her mind. By the time she actually found something to watch on Netfix Mrs. Levin would be home and she wouldn't get to watch it. The amount of time spent watching Netflix was always disproportionate to the time spent looking for something to watch on Netflix. So she distracted herself by organizing the magazines on the coffee table. 

There were two main subjects: cars and medicine. It was pretty easy to tell which were Kevin's and which were his mother's.

She arranged them in two piles according to dates of publication, pausing every now and again when an article headline caught her eye. 'Is the Sound of Your Engine Affecting Your Sexlife?' Gwen laughed at the idea. '3D Printing Revolutionizing Organ Transplants!' Oh! That sounded interesting. Between the two of them, Gwen decided that Mrs. Levin had the more interesting magazine subscription. 

It was as she was leafing through the top one, looking for another interesting article that Mrs. Levin walked in. 

"Oh! Hi, Gwen." She said. "Kevin didn't tell me you'd be coming over." 

"Oh, he said you invited me." Gwen suddenly felt very embarrassed. 

"I did. I said you should come over some time. I didn't think he would interpret that as right away."

Both women shared a giggle. Kevin could be somewhat frustrating sometimes. But it was an endearing type of frustrating. The kind that made him too cute to be annoyed with. Speaking of Kevin, he chose that moment to walk out of the kitchen and join them in the living room. 

"Hey, what are we laughing at? I miss something funny?"

Both women's giggles erupted into full blown laughter. 

"Kevin, you are just to cute some times!"

"You can be as absent-minded as your father."

Kevin just stood there, watching them laugh and having no idea what was so funny. Whatever. Women were weird. He walked back into the kitchen to drain the spaghetti and add sauce. Let them have their private joke. If it made his mother like his girlfriend, what was the drawback?

The two women sat down. Leah was especially glad to get off her feet. She kicked her shoes off and pulled off her socks. "So, how goes the alien, monster, giant robot fights?"

"Actually, things have been pretty quiet since we beat Diagon." Gwen informed her. 

"That's a relief." Leah sighed. "I cannot being to tell how terrified I am that Kevin or you might be wheeled into my ER whenever you have one of your battles."

"I consider us lucky that the worst thing that's ever happened to any of us is that I broke my leg once." Gwen neglected to mention the fact that all three of them pretty much died once while visiting Charmcaster in Ledgerdomain. But they came back to life shortly after, so no real harm done. "Unless you count Kevin's mutations, too." 

From the kitchen came the distinct sound of someone dropping a spoon.

"Oh, no. Kevin's mutations don't bother me." Leah assured her. "You should have seen him when he came out. I don't think I know who was more scared. Me or the poor doctor. I think Devin was probably the only person in that room who wasn't freaking out."

"Really?" Gwen was a bit skeptical. "Usually the stereotype is that its the man who's more nervous and freaked out."

Here Leah snorted. "Oh, he got all his freaking out done nine month earlier when I had to explain to him that humans don't hatch from eggs." She put a hand to her head at the memory. "Ugh! That was a difficult conversation. I came home from work the evening after I told him we were gonna have a baby to find that he had set up a kiddie pool in our bedroom and filled it with mud and grass. You can imagine how thrilled I was about that. And Devin couldn't understand why I was so upset about the mess. After all, there wasn't already any place in the apartment for us to lay our eggs, so he made one for us. He thought he was doing a good thing. Poor man. He looked so disturbed when I explained to him what was gonna happen."

Gwen giggled at the idea. There was something just so adorable about the idea of awkward inter-species romance. Gwen really wished her Grandpa talked more about his relationship with her Grandmother. "How long had Devin been on Earth before that? I'm sure he must have seen a pregnant woman or maybe a TV melodrama or a movie that featured one."

"I'm not really sure it ever donned on him just how different humans and Osmosians really are until that moment." Leah admitted. 

And it was that moment that Kevin chose to re-enter the living room, carrying a serving plate of spaghetti on one hand and a stack of clean plates and silverware in the other. He set these down on the coffee table. "I heard 'Osmosians'. Are you talking about me?"

"No." Both women answered in unison, shaking their heads in perfect sync, and Kevin found that frightening.

"But, now that you mention it…" Gwen flashed an evil smile. "I would love to hear every embarrassing story you have about Kevin from before I met him when he was eleven!"

Leah nearly snorted as she began portioning out the spaghetti. "Every single one? How much time do you have?"

"Well, my parents have given up on enforcing my curfew. So, all night, I guess." Gwen shrugged. She accepted the plate of spaghetti Leah offered her. "Kevin, sit down so your mother can embarrass you in front of me."

"I don't like this plan." He informed them. Not that he actually thought Gwen would be scared away by any embarrassing story his mother could tell. At this point, they were fairly committed to one another. Kevin just didn't want to be embarrassed. But he sat down all the same and took the plate of food his mother passed him. 

"I agree." Leah said. But not for the reason Kevin did not like the idea. "A young woman shouldn't be out to late after dark. Especially not right now with all this alien registration hysteria gong on. What would you do if you were attacked?"

Kevin snorted into his food at the idea of anyone being crazy, stupid, or masochistic enough to attack Gwen. 

"I would knock them down and restrain him with my manna, then demand why he attacked me and what he wants." She answered simply. As if this should have been obvious. And to Kevin it had been. Only idiots and masochists would try and attack any of them on a deserted city street. (Unless said hypothetical attacker was a super-powered bad-ass from outer space. But an instance like that wouldn't have anything to do with the time of night or the ETRA.)

Leah sighed, setting her plate down on the coffee table. "I was going to just talk to Kevin about this, but it looks like you need to hear it too, Gwen. The hysteria over the ETRA and the fear-mongering that the Forever Party is using to push it through reminds a lot of the stories my grandfather used to tell me about when he lived in Krakow."

"Poland?" Gwen blinked.

Leah nodded. 

Kevin just looked from one to the other, confused. "Why? What's so special about Krakow, Poland?"

Gwen turned to stare at him in a way she rarely did. It was the look she gave him when he said or did something that was completely contrary to what someone was supposed to say or do. Basically, it was the the look she gave him when he inadvertently reminded her that he wasn't like everyone else. He never received a formal education. He tried to seriously kill people. He had a criminal record. He spent time in the Null Void. He still ran an illegal business on the side and in direct conflict with his job as a Plumber. Most of these things Gwen could ignore on a daily basis because -while she did know about them- he managed to hide their effects on his life rather well. He could pass for a normal teenaged boy. 

But then he would say or do something without thinking and she would just give him this Look. 

In this case, the Look was at the reminder that he was uneducated when it came to basic Earth history and was ignorant of one of the largest and most influential periods of the 20th century. Gwen placed a hand on his knee, forcing herself to replace the Look with a patient smile. "I see you haven't been studying for you GED at all."

He was about to snap back with something defensive. Something along the lines of what does he need a high school equivalency for if he spends all his time either in space or fighting giant monsters from space? Or maybe, what was the point of even studying something so useless with all this other crap with the ETRA going on right now? But Kevin didn't get the chance to say either of them. Instead his mother cut him off, supplying the knowledge he was so lacking in. 

"Kevin, when your great-grandfather was your age, there was a lot of discrimination going on in the good majority of Eastern Europe -including Poland." Leah began gently. "The governments required gays, blacks, Jews, the physically disabled and all sorts of other minorities to register -very similarly to what the Forever Party is doing now with aliens, mutants, and any other kind of extra-humans. They were required to wear badges identifying the minority they belonged to. Several mornings, your great-grandfather would open up his shop to find a new hate-message painted across the window."

At that, she flashed her son a knowing look. She knew that what he was scraping off the garage door that morning wasn't porn. She wasn't stupid, and while Kevin was an excellent con-man, he was terrible at lying to his mother. 

"Was he…" Gwen began gently -somewhat awkwardly- unsure of if she should even ask in the first place. "He wasn't sent to the Ghetto, though. I mean, you're here. So he must have gotten out, right?"

Leah offered a gentle smile. "Of course he was sent to the ghetto. But when the Spring of '42 rolled around and they stated moving people to the camps, he got out. He and a friend of his escaped through the sewers. Not exactly the most elegant of escapes, not something you'd wanna hear over dinner. But when he got to America, he joined the Marines and came back in the summer of '44 to kill Nazis."

"Woah." Kevin blinked. "Great-grandpa Kalmanovitz was hard core."

Leah snorted. "Well, you certainly didn't get your stubborn tough-guy tendencies from Devin."

The two women shared a laugh at Kevin's expense. Then Gwen pulled them back to the main topic at hand. "Do you think they'll do that here? Segregating extra-human citizens into ghettoes, or worse, camps like they did with Japanese-Americans in the 40s?"

"Hopefully, we won't even have to find out." Leah sighed. "The ETRA can't pass."

Gwen and Kevin exchanged a look. 

"Uh, Mom…" Kevin began slowly. "They, uh, they won't announce this until tomorrow, but… um, the ETRA already has passed."

There was a beat of silence. 

Then Leah slammed her plate down on the coffee table and stood. She stormed to a hall closet and started throwing things out of it. 

Both Kevin and Gwen also stood and followed her, making sure to give her a respectful distance. Lest they get hit by a flying pool noodle. 

"Uh, Mom…?"

"Mrs. Levin…?"

Leah emerged again, holding a duffle bag. She stormed into the kitchen and started pulled out water bottles and throwing them into the bag. Bottles of water, cans of food, a can opener, knife, safety lighter, etc. 

"Mom, what… are you doing?" Kevin asked. 

"I want you to get out." She said flatly. Picking up the bag again and storming out of the kitchen, back down the hall to her bedroom. They followed her and found Leah rummaging through her jewelry box, pulling out any pieces made with real gold or silver, or containing real gems. "Take that ship of yours and get off the planet. I want you out now before things turn bad."

"Mom, you're freaking out." Kevin said. Crossing the room, he put his hands on her arms, forcing her to stop moving, stand still and just look at him for a moment. "Take a breath and calm down. Please. You're really overreacting over this. I'll be fine. Gwen and I aren't even going to register. This whole law is bunk and will be overturned before the year is out -just like Prop 8."

She did not seem convinced. Like a mamma tiger trying to protect her baby, Leah still looked frenzied and ready to jump at the drop of a pin. 

Gwen came up to them and added a pacifying hand of her own to the older woman's shoulder. "Look at it this way," she began, "Kevin's got a lot of experience in feeling out touchy situations. He does deal in illegal tech -among other things- and one of the skills that's allowed him to maintain that business -even now that he's also a Plumber- is his ability to sense when a deal is gonna go south and recognize when its time to pull out. Kevin will be fine. Trust him. If he thinks its time to get out, he'll get out."

Kevin could have kissed her. She was so much better at putting into words what he was trying to say. And in that moment he realized that if things did turn bad and he did need to leave the planet before the ETRA escalated into something more -something worse- he would not leave without her. He couldn't leave without her. If Kevin was running, Gwen was running with him. He would not leave her behind if he had a way to get them out.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out as a sigh, Leah forced herself to calm down. "Alright." She said. Rubbing a hand over her son's forearm. "Alright, sweetheart, I'm calm."

Kevin let her go. 

All three of them took a much needed calming breath. 

"It won't matter if you two don't register." Leah said after a pause. "Thanks to that Jimmy Jones friend of yours and that stupid Harangue Nation show, everyone knows who you are. The question is, what kind of penalty will there be for known extra-humans who refuse the registry…"

"There's no point in panicking over it just yet." Gwen assured her, not quite believing her own words. She hadn't exactly taken the time to think about penalties for failing to register. "It'll probably just be something mundane, like a fine. Like the fines a bunch of people got slapped with for not having health insurance after the Health Care reform was passed." 

"And if its something worse, we'll leave." Kevin promised. He put an arm around Gwen's waist, pulling her closer to him. He wasn't going anywhere without her. "You, me, and Gwen. We'll take the Rust Bucket and leave the planet. Don't worry, Mom. There's nothing to worry about. Everything will be just fine."

…


	4. Something Like Bureaucracy

_"The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" that Dickens loved to paint. […] But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."_ -C.S. Lewis

...

With a yawn and a stretch, Ben climbed the steps to Bellwood's City Hall. Flanking him on either side, held at bay by a flimsy faux-velvet rope, were reporters, journalist, news casters, commentators, and photographers. All jostling, pushing, and climbing over each other to get the best shot at the best angle of the famous Ben Tennyson as he climbed the steps to this historic turning point in the country's -and more importantly, the world's- approach to extraterrestrial contact. 

Ben, for his part, tried to ignore them as he entered the building -alone. Gwen and Kevin hadn't come. Kevin, he never expected to. But Gwen… Gwen was smart, and a real stickler for rules (usually). He would have thought that she would come around by now. But Gwen hadn't shown up either. 

And so Ben was all alone when he passed through the wide double doors of City Hall's main entrance, security fanned out behind him to keep the media at bay, and the doors slammed shut behind him. 

And it was alone, without support or advice, that Ben filled out the registration form. Or rather forms, they were many. Beginning with the obvious and mundane. His full name, address, names of his parents, why he was required to register (are you an extraterrestrial, mutant, a sapient autonomies AI/robot/or other construct, etc?), if ET please specify species and planet of origin. Where you born on Earth, or did you immigrate? 

All that, Ben expected to have to fill in. Why else have an alien registry?

But then the forms went on to ask for a complete list of the Anodite power-set and that struck Ben as excessive. At the end on this section of the form, it also asked if Ben himself had any of the above listed abilities. Or, if he had any abilities not associated with his species of decent or the human race, to list those as well. Ben put down 'Omnitrix' but did not elaborate.

Then it went on to demand a list of all the weaknesses his alien race of decent might have. Once again, at the end of this section, it asked if Ben himself had any of these weaknesses. But the form didn't end there.

After filling out two pages of powers and weaknesses, the next page requested his line of decent. Starting from his extraterrestrial ancestor and their respective human partner. How many children they had and their full names. Did his Anodite grandmother's other children have any children of their own? Their full names. Basically, even if Gwen didn't register herself, Ben's forms would register her by proxy. Not just her, but Ken and Uncle Frank too. And Ben's own dad, as well. That gave Ben pause. 

For the first time since the ETRA was proposed, Ben began to question the virtue of the Register. 

But that did not stop him from filling out all the documents presented to him. Filling them out and handing them in, feeling as though he'd just taken one of those standardized state tests they gave him in school and was now waiting for the results. Then he was fingerprinted and his picture taken (as if they didn't have enough stock footage of him already, ha!). After that, he was given a manilla envelope like it was some free gift for filling out a survey, or sitting through a time-share sales pitch.

He was then free to go.

Except he had to make his official press statement. 

Someone had taken the opportunity to set up a podium in the time that he was inside filling out the forms. Senator Downes, formerly Sir Cyrus of the Forever Knights, now figurehead of the Forever Party stood at it, wrapping up what sounded like a drawn-out but highly animated speech. 

"…and here he is, the first of what we hope will be many volunteers for the Registry program, Ben Tennyson."

Cyrus stepped down, clapping mildly politely because that was the public face his new position required him to present. The crowd, on the other hand, went wild at Ben's introduction. The applause roaring and accompanied by whoops and hollers from members of the crowd not associated with any new station or journalistic publication. Ben was way more popular than any boring old Senator. That fact suddenly reminded Ben of what Gwen had said just last night. That the Forever Party wanted Ben to make the Registration Act look credible. After all, if the great Ben Tennyson supported it, what legitimate reason was there to oppose it? 

But this sudden bought of misgiving didn't stop him from climbing the podium (standing on a block behind it because he was just a bit shorter than Senator Downes -Sir Cyrus) and clearing his throat to give himself some more time to think of something to say. Ben never really was one to plan ahead, so he didn't exactly know what to say…

"I, uh, whew, its a bit awkward up here alone." He began, hoping the crowd would interpret his awkwardness as slap-stick, a joke meant to break the ice. "My teammates were supposed to be here, too. But I guess they got the time or place mixed up. Maybe they're over at the Hall City wooden bells exhibit in the next town over."

This was met with a light chuckle from the crowd. 

"I've been looking forward to this Registry for a while now." He continued, finally thinking of some something to say and rolling with it. "I'm sure everyone knows what the Plumbers are by now, but just last year that wasn't the case. The Plumbers were a guarded secret and that sometimes made it hard for my team and I to do our jobs. I cannot tell you the number of times we went looking for help from a state marshal or city sherif and got laughed out of the station! But with the ETRA, not only with that never happen again, but local law enforcement and emergency response groups will be better equipped to deal with extra-natural disasters." 

He smiled into the cameras as the gathered reporters all swarmed with questions.

"Aren't you concerned that this Act might be the first step in phasing out the Plumbers on Earth?"

"What of the accusations of this just being legalized discrimination?"

"Aren't you afraid of any backlash from the extra-human community?"

"Tell us a bit about the Registration process? What can people expect?"

That was when Sir Cyrus took back the reigns of the interview. Gently shoving Ben to the side and taking all of their questions in turn. Ben was about to feel insulted about being shoved to the side and having his spotlight so callously stolen, when he saw a familiar face walking up the steps, keeping to the back of the media cloud to avoid being caught up in the digital storm. 

"Cooper!" Ben met him half-way down the stairs. "What are you doing here?"

"My mom, being the law abiding citizen that she is, is making me register since its now -apparently- a law." He turned and waved at a car that was idling by the curb, its engine still running. "Personally, I think this is a terrible idea and I'm gonna hack into their server and purge my record from their system the moment I get home. But aside from that, how are you?"

"Uh… Cooper, purging the computer won't get rid of the hard copies." Ben informed him. Cooper was against the ETRA too? Jeez! And Ben used to think he was smart too! Why were all the smart people suddenly acting like paranoid conspiracy theorists? "The forms you fill out are all on paper. You can't scrub those from a hard drive because they're not on a hard drive."

Cooper looked very, very displeased by this news. But instead of taking it out on Ben, who was just the messenger, he changed the subject. "What's in the envelope?"

"Oh this? They gave this to me after I registered." Ben opened the package.

…

There weren't really all that many vantage points to spy on city hall from. At least, not if you were using mundane terrestrial technology. All those close enough to the building for a person to see without binoculars or telescope were already patrolled by security. All those farther away, but still close enough for binoculars or telescope were uncomfortable, from the wrong angle, or in a neighborhood the viewer really wouldn't want to spend to much time in. 

But for someone -or several someones- using enhanced alien vision or snooping tech, you could watch the event at City Hall from almost anywhere. So long as it was high enough and their line of sight wasn't obstructed. That was what brought Pierce, Helen, and Manny to the top of Makeout Point that morning. None of them planned to register. But they still wanted to know what would happen if they did. 

They took turns with the snoopers, watching as Ben was dropped off at City Hall. How he climbed the stairs and disappeared behind the double doors. And as a podium was wheeled in front of that same door, microphones and sound equipment set up. 

Another car pulled up and parked next to them. 

They all tensed, their hands going to their faces to make sure their ID-Masks were firmly in place. Then their eyes caught up with their brains and they recognize the green and black muscle car. 

"Oh. Its just Kevin." Helen was the first to pull off her mask. Then Manny. Then Pierce. 

Kevin hopped out the car, walking around to the trunk. "Hey, guys. Same idea?"

"Yeah, we were just seeing what- Whoa! What the hell!?" Manny gapped open-mouthed when Kevin pulled a Tyrusian sniper rifle out of his trunk. "You plannin' to shoot somebody!?"

"Huh?" The Osmosian blinked in genuinely innocent confusion. "Oh! The gun. No. I'm just using it for the scope. Best long range scope in the galaxy. I know a guy, who knows a guy, who went to school with the Tyrusian oosha." Kevin laid down on the grass, laying out the rifle and looking every bit like a radical terrorist sniper setting up to take out a target. It made the three Helpers just a little nervous -to spite his assurances that he didn't plan on killing anyone. After all, this was Kevin. "It isn't even loaded, ya know. Ammo's expensive."

There was a pregnant pause as they watched him watch City Hall. Laying belly to the ground, body stretched out at the same angle as the rifle. Scope and barrel aimed squarely at the Senator's head as he stood at the podium… The perfect set up for a radical sniper to make an example of an equally radical politician of opposing philosophy. And, this was Kevin Levin they were talking about… Formerly the infamous Kevin 11. Formerly the even more infamous Ultimate Kevin. Really, who wouldn't be just a little bit nervous when he pulls out a giant alien gun and points it at… anything!? 

"For the love of crap! I'm not shooting anyone!" Kevin insisted. "You can stop staring at me."

Clearing his throat conspicuously, Pierce raised the snoopers back to his eyes and made a conscious effort to ignore the dude with the over-sized alien sniper rifle at his feet. "Looks like that duche from the Forever Knights is talking."

"What's he saying?" Manny asked, reaching for the snoopers. 

Pierce turned around to stare incredulously at him. Kevin also raised his eyes from his sniper scope to stare at him. 

Helen placed a hand on the Tetramand's sculpted red shoulder. "Manny, they're alien binoculars, not a magic trick. There's no sound."

"Not unless you can read lips." Kevin went back to his scope. He could not read lips, but there were other ways to figure out the just of what someone was trying to communicate. "He does seem to be doing a lot of shouting and arm waving."

"Let me see." Helen plucked the snoopers out of Manny's hand and held them up to her own eyes just in time to see Sir Cyrus slam his fist down on the podium resolutely. As if to, not only punctuate his sentence, but metaphorically notarize his statement, like he was making a promise to the crowd. And whatever it was that he was promising, Helen had the feeling they would not like it. "Oh… I wish we could hear what he was saying…"

With a groan, Kevin lifted himself from his scope. Climbing to his feet, he stomped back to his car to rummage around through the trunk again. This time he emerged with what looked like a set of perfectly ordinary and unassuming ear-plugs. Except they were attacked to a wire which he plugged into the scope. 

"Non-verbal communication software." He explained. "Not easy to get."

"That's great!" Pierce exclaimed. "Now we can know what they're saying!"

Kevin nodded. Then flashed his best salesman smile. "That'll be thirty standard galactic credits. Each." He said. "I also accept payment in the form of precious metals, gems, or American currency. Current values and exchange rates apply."

"Wait. You're gonna charge us to listen to an asshole talk?" Helen glared at him. 

"Its a living." The Osmosian shrugged. "But you guys are Plumbers' Helpers, so I'll give you a discount. Twenty-five each."

"Forget it. They'll replay it on the news tonight anyway. Plus, there's always YouTube." Pierce snatched the snoopers from Helen. "Looks like the asshole is gone anyway. Ben's talking now…"

'So they swapped out one asshole for another one.' Kevin commented silently to himself as he laid back down behind his sniper's scope and placed the ear buds in his ears. Ben was at the podium now. Looking awkward and just maybe a little scared. Ha! Good. Serves him right. Kevin indulged in a private smirk at Tennyson's expense. 'That's right, Benji, writhe in front of the camera.'

The non-verbal communication software wasn't perfect. It was a bit of alien tech he picked up on a whim and it wasn't originally configured for terran mannerisms and gestures. Kevin was working on getting the kinks out, but he was really more of a mechanic, not a programmer or a linguist. 

"I have been facing a head this List for timing now." Supplied a synthetic voice via the ear buds. Kevin didn't know whether to groan or snort at the terrible 'translation' it provided for him. And it just got more frustratingly hilarious as Ben continued his speech. "Everyone awareness of the Uncloggers of Justice by timing, last solar cycle information not knowing…"

Okay, this crap was useless. He was actually kind glad the Helpers opted not to pay to listen. If there was one thing Kevin hated more than letting customers get away, it was having to deal out refunds. As a general rule, alien technology was more advanced than Earth's. But just being more advance didn't automatically make it better. Transcribing a language out of visual cues alone was an incredibly amazing piece of software. But it still wasn't anywhere as good as just using your own damn eyes. 

Ben had started off awkward and unsure, but he found some conference -as he often did while in the spotlight- and finished his (blissfully short) speech on what looked like a confident note. That is until Cyrus pushed him back out of the way and reclaimed the show. Ben was about to make a scene about it and Kevin was about to settle in to watch a good train-wreck but something else caught Ben's attention pulling him down the stairs. 

Kevin panned his scope down to see Cooper's blond head trudging up the steps. He watched their short conversation. It was a bit hard to follow since Cooper's back was to him and he only had Ben's face to go off of, but it seemed like they were disagreeing. Good. More people needed to disagree with Ben. Maybe then it would get through his fat head how much of an idiot he was being. 

Then Cooper indicated the manilla envelope Ben was carrying and that was something Kevin had been wondering about as well. 

He watched Ben open the package and withdraw from it a gray band. 

To small to be a headband or belt, but to large to be a wrist band. An arm band, maybe? Slate gray with some sort of patch on it in yellow. Kevin played with the scope's focus until he could see it clearly. A yellow alien face sewn over the gray band. Ben stared at it in confusion for a second before replacing it back in the envelope and instead withdrawing a badge with the same alien-face symbol on it. This he also placed back in the package and finally pulled out a piece of paper -hopefully an explanation for the strange tokens. 

Kevin readjusted the focus of his scope back to what it was see Ben's face as he read the paper. He looked confused, but not concerned. With a shrug, Ben reached back into the envelope, pulled out the gray armband and slid it on over his green jacket sleeve. He smiled as Cooper as if to ask, 'How do I look?'

That was when Cooper shook his head, spun around on his heels and stormed away. 

Kevin wanted to get a look at that paper.

…

School was technically out for the day. But Gwen had karate practice today, so she lingered on campus. 

She was just pulling the books she'd need for the night's homework out of her locker when two boys she did not recognize came up behind her. Flanking her one either side. One of them slammed the locker shut in he face while the other knocked her books out of her hands.

"Excuse me?" She blinked at them. They were wearing the Bellwood Prep school uniform, so they must attend her school. She just couldn't recall ever seeing them before. 

"Didn't you hear?" Asked the one who slammed her locker shut. "School lockers are for human use only."

"You know what happens when little alien girls trespass on school equipment, right?" Asked the other. 

Suddenly, Gwen understood what was happening here. This wasn't just some random act of bullying. These two were targeting her because her abilities made her different and her fame as a member of Ben's Team made her an easy focus for people who weren't different. These two were probably hoping to make themselves feel more powerful by trying to intimidate her. Unfortunately for them, Gwen had faced down far more intimidating foes and never blinked. So, instead of frightening her, these two boys had the exact opposite effect. 

She laughed. 

They gaped at her. That was not generally the response bullies got.

"Are you serious? This is actually happening?" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, man! This is priceless! Look, guys, I don't recognize you, so I'm gonna assume you're new here. But, you really don't wanna mess with me. I mean, really! You do know who I am, right? You've got to have a TV! Or a computer. Or a smart phone. Heck! Even a Gameboy or a PSP will stream YouTube. Trust me, guys, you don't wanna do this with me. Be smart and walk away."

But they weren't smart. 

Seven minutes later, Kevin's car pulled up in front of Bellwood Prep, just as two thoroughly panicked delinquents came rushing out the gates screaming about a witch and a monster. Or a witch being a monster. Or a monster being a witch. It was a little difficult to tell. They were rather hysterical. 

His first thought being that some new enemy had appeared and Gwen would need his back-up, Kevin leaped out of the car, slid across the hood -absorbing the titanium car paint as he did so-, and sprinted onto campus. 

He found Gwen at her locker, quietly arranging books in her backpack. Just a little too calm and meticulous. 

"Trouble?" He asked, suddenly feeling like he might have overreacted as he was now standing in an empty corridor in full neon-green body armor.

She turned around and flashed him one of her winning smiles. Emerald eyes bright, ginger hair flipping in that way that sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach. It was one of her most beautiful smiles. It was also one of her most fake smiles. "No. No trouble. Why?"

He remembered Emily showing him the note that was taped to her locker yesterday and Kevin wondered if this had anything to do with that. Did her would-be bullies come back to escalate their taunting? If they had, they must have quickly realized they were biting off more than they could chew. That must have been the boys he saw running full bore away from the school when he pulled up. Gwen would never harm anyone who didn't deserve it, he knew. But there was a fine line between 'harm' and 'scare so shitless that they wet their pants and run home crying for their mommies'. Kevin wasn't sure what she'd done exactly to terrify them so much, but whatever it was, he approved. 

He dropped his armor, the green tent melting from his skin.

"Aren't you late for ninja-training?" Kevin changed the subject. Usually, he met her outside the gym on the days she had karate practice. 

The fact that she didn't instantly correct him that it wasn't 'ninja-training' it was 'karate' was telling of just how much the fact that those idiots had even tried to harass her really bothered her. "I was thinking I'd skip karate today. Lets just go home."

A pause. "Uh… your home or mine?"

She shrugged. "Either one, I suppose. I don't really feel like going out anywhere."

"Do you feel up to tolerating Ben for a little bit?" Kevin asked. "He's got something I wanna look at." 

He didn't know how he expected her to react to this request. Maybe relief that he was ready to stop being mad a Ben? The guy was her cousin after all and they did spend a lot of time together before Kevin came along. Or maybe irritation if she was still mad at him. Sometimes, Gwen could stay mad for days -Kevin had experienced this many times himself. But instead, she just looked tired. Like she didn't wanna have to deal with this crap anymore. 

"Yeah. Sure." She shrugged, pulling her backpack up on to her shoulders. "Registration was this morning. Can I assume its something to do with that?"

"Yeah." He wanted to get a look at the paper that went along with the armband Ben was now wearing -oh so awkwardly- over his jacket. 

...

Having not shown up at all that morning for the Registration, Ben didn't expect to see either Gwen or Kevin that day. So, it came as a shock to him when he was sitting at their usual table at Mr. Smoothy and saw Kevin's car pull into the parking lot. Gwen was with him, no surprise there, and they marched directly up to his table without even bothering with the pretense of detouring to the line to order drinks for themselves. 

Clearly, they were here to see him. 

Ben crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. He offered them the chance to stand with him at the Registration ceremony that morning and they refused. So, unless there was some new great and terrible intergalactic crisis that required the intervention of the Hero of the Universe, Ben did not want to hear what they had to say. (Although, he would enjoy watching them grovel.) "What do you want?"

"What the hell is that!?" Gwen exclaimed, pointing at his arm band the moment she was close enough to see it. Her face was open-mouthed and horror struck. 

Honestly, Ben didn't get what the big problem was. It was just something to show that he had registered as an extra-human and what kind of extra-human he was. There was no reason to freak out. But then again, Gwen seemed to have a short fuse these days. She had been loosing her temper a lot since the ETRA was first proposed by the Forever Party. Ben was actually kinda surprised she didn't just outright explode last night when he told her it passed. 

Kevin did not look so shocked by the arm band. He held out a bottle of what looked like ordinary terrestrial windshield wiper fluid. "Here. Since I know you haven't refilled it since you got your car. I thought you could use this."

Ben took the bottle. "What is this? Your idea of a peace offering?"

"If you don't want it, I'll take it back and put it in my own Ride!" Kevin snapped. As a general rule, he didn't like giving things away for free anyway. He was just hoping to loosen Ben up so he could be plied for information on the Registration and Ben usually responded well to gifts. 

"I'll use it." Ben hugged the bottle closer to him, as if it were a precious, limited release Sumo Slammers game. But that was Ben for you. It didn't matter what it was, if something was given to him -even if it was something he didn't really want- he guarded it jealously. Like a two-year-old who had just learned the meaning of the word 'mine!'. 

Kevin took that as the closest thing to a peace accord they were gonna get and sat down opposite Ben. He flicked the arm band. "So, tell us a bit about this."

"Oh, this." Ben shrugged. "Its to show that I'm a registered extra-human."

"Why are you wearing it?" Gwen demanded. 

Ben shrugged again. "Why not? You're being very judgmental and intolerant of this whole thing, Gwen. I'm surprised at you!"

"I'm being intolerant!" Gwen exclaimed.

Kevin placed a hand over hers. It wasn't that she didn't have very valid reasons for being distraught over the arm badge, but he was trying to ply Be for information and her outbursts were counter productive to that goal. 

Ben groaned with exasperation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. A bit folded and crumpled now, but it looked like the same paper Kevin saw through his scope earlier that morning. Ben passed it to them. "Look, they gave this to me after I registered. This explains it better than I can."

They took the offered paper, unfolding it and smoothing it out over the table. The first line was thanking them -or rather Ben- for volunteering to register and adding in some propaganda about the service they were doing for themselves, their country, and the planet. Then followed a brief explanation on the arm band and badge. 

Either the arm band or the badge must be worn whenever the registered extra-human leaves his or her residence. The symbol on the arm band or badge must be clearly visible at all times, it could not be covered by a jacket, scarf, tie, etc. If the badge or arm band is lost, damaged, or otherwise rendered unwearable, it is to be reported as soon as convenient so that a replacement can be issued. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in penalties. But the paper did not specify what these penalties would be. 

Then under that expositional paragraph was a small chart explaining the different symbols on the badges and what types of extra-humans they identified. A yellow alien face meant an extraterrestrial, or a person of extraterrestrial decent. A blue cog-wheel identified a non-biological, autonomous, or self-aware construct -such as an AI, or a sentient robot, etc. And a green DNA helix represented a person of terrestrial human decent who carried a mutation that gave them extra-human powers or abilities. It was actually a very well thought out and organized system. The perfect way to sort and file people. 

But sort and file them for what?


	5. Those Around Us

_“Because everything of value that we will know in this life comes from our relationships with those around us. Because there is nothing material that measures against the intangibles of love and friendship.”_ \- R.A. Salvatore

...

So, the Registration Act was passed, and for a few days, everyone was convinced the world was going to end. 

Left-wing commentators said that it was the start of America becoming a Fascist police state. That the Registration wouldn't stop with just aliens (and indeed, the Registry was already for more than just aliens), and it wouldn't stop at just registration either. Since the government wanted to know when aliens (and other extra-humans) were at all times, how long before they started telling them where to go? Before they started segregating those register from the rest of the population? 'Separate but equal'. A lie America had already lived through once before. 

Right-wing speakers scoffed at these comments and fears, calling them the paranoid delusions of liberal extremists. They reminded people that Earth -forget America, it was just a single country while the whole planet- had been threatened and even outright attacked by extraterrestrials, alternate universe robots, and extra-dimensional entities before. That planet Earth and the human race had to defend itself. But before they could look to the enemies at their gates, they must first be sure they were safe within their own walls. The Registry was the first step towards achieving that goal. If an alien had nothing to hide, they had nothing to fear. 

These debates went on for days.

Eventually, they got boring. 

Eventually, you just had to turn off the TV and go outside. Maybe take a drive to Mr. Smoothy and reconcile with friends. 

Kevin and Gwen weren't at Mr. Smoothy. That wasn't surprising. Ben was the real smoothie drinker in their little trio. The other two just went along with him because one place to hang out and discuss imminent alien invasions or looming dark overlords was just as good as any other place. But then, that did beg the question, where did Kevin and Gwen hang out when he wasn't around? 

Ben had the sudden mental image of them parked somewhere nondescript and vacant like an empty parking lot, an abandoned warehouse, or just the woods, sitting in Kevin's back seat, and- -and then the mental image just ended. Because Ben liked to think that his cousin didn't do stuff like that. Sit in parked cars with Kevin! Ha! But then he remembered what it looked like they were doing when he barged in through Gwen's window the night before his Registration. They had been wearing all their clothing, but still… the position they were in was somewhat suspect. 

So, where would Kevin take his chase, innocent, unsullied cousin in order to deflower and ravage her…?

The lake? Makeout Point? The empty parking lot of an abandoned warehouse? How about just his garage? Yeah. Ben decided to start small. Try Kevin's garage first. That was where Kevin spent the majority of his time anyway. Even if he wasn't trying to defile Gwen's pure and unblemished virtue, Kevin would probably be in his garage. 

Got it in one. 

Ben pulled up to Kevin's house to find his green and black muscle car parked on the sidewalk and a -rather loud and rowdy- party overflowing out of the garage and spilling over the driveway and a little bit out into the street. Ben got out and made a point to lock his car before going to investigate what was going on. Kevin wasn't exactly the social type, so where had he met enough people to have a party like this? And not even bother to invite him!?

Wading his way through a throng of aliens, mutants, and seemingly normal looking humans -none of which he recognized- Ben made his way into the actual garage and found Kevin sitting on a worktable. Gwen sitting next to him, dressed in something Ben was pretty sure his uncle didn't actually let her leave the house wearing. They were surrounded by a circle of aliens that Ben definitely did recognize! Helen, Manny, Pierce, and Argit.

"… So then the Penguin says, 'He's not an eggplant. He's retarded!'" Argit was just finishing an off-color joke.

Argit and Kevin roared with laughter at the joke. Manny might have been the only other one in the group who found it legitimately funny. But everyone else just sort of laughed politely while looking like they were suppressing the urge to cringe. Ben sidled his way into the circle.

"Hey, guys. What's going on…?" He asked, waving an arm around to indicate the party around them. "And, Gwen, what the hell are you wearing? You look like a dancer from Jabba's Palace!" 

Argit snorted into his drink. "That's probably because Kevin got it from a guy, who knew a guy, who knew a guy, who knew the costume director for Return of the Jedi." -another snort of laughter- "He's the only guy I know who gets someone else a gift on his birthday."

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked, pulling Gwen closer to him. Wrapping both arms around her. "It was a birthday gift to myself."

Gwen offered a patient and tolerant smile. "And me wearing it for him and not killing him is my birthday gift to him."

"Wait. Its your birthday!?" 

Everyone paused. Turned. Stared at Ben. As if he had just said two plus two equalled cat, the sun set in the east, or Firefly wasn't really all that great of a series. Like one of the most ridiculous things that could possible tumble out of a person's mouth had just done a foxtrot of his lips and was dancing around in the center of their circle. Did he forget that Kevin 11 was born on eleven/eleven? Or did Ben Tennyson just not own a calendar?

This awkward moment might have continued, had Cooper not appeared a few seconds later. "Am I interrupting?"

Everyone turned to look at him instead of Ben… and they all froze. Pinned to his jacket lapel was a green DNA helix badge. The symbol to identify Registered mutants. The mood of the circle suddenly turned sober.

"They got you." Pierce shook his head with disappointment. 

"Look, I had to, okay." Cooper snapped back, indignant and defensive. "It was either be a good boy and Register, or else get kicked out of my mom's basement and find some other place to house my lab -and I've got sensitive equipment in there! Anyway…" he cleared his throat, obviously wanting to change the subject. "Manny told me you've got a Tyrusian rifle. I'm not gonna ask you where you got it, so long as you don't ask me where I got this."

He held out a package for Kevin who removed one arm from embracing Gwen to accept it. Cooper blushed at the amount of her skin this shift exposed and looked away. 

Sometimes he really didn't understand what Gwen saw in him. Kevin was brutish, selfish, stubborn, violent, and at times (under specific circumstances) a homicidal sociopath. Gwen on the other hand was smart, well educated, caring and compassionate, and beautiful on top of it all. There just didn't seem to be any reason for her to be running around with a guy like Kevin! But Cooper pushed those thoughts to the side, just like he always did. 

As long as he had known Gwen, he had also known that she would never look at him the same way she looked at Kevin. As much as he might want her to. It just didn't happen. Not even when Kevin was 'Ultimate Kevin'. Drunk off of energy and trying to absorb her. She was still in love with him and had the gall to ask Cooper to help restore him to normal. Asked him to save his rival. And Cooper did it. Not for Kevin, but for Gwen. Because as much as he wanted her to be with him, he also wanted her to be happy. And as much as he might not like it, or understand it, Kevin made Gwen happy. 

That was really the only reason he came to this thing. 

Kevin unwrapped the package and stared in disbelief at what looked like some sort of clip of rounds of an alien design. "This is ammo for the Tyrusian X1-742 Sniper Riffle. These cost seven hundred Taydens a round! How did you get a whole clip?"

"Now see, the deal was for you not ask me where I got the ammo and I don't ask you were you got the gun." Cooper pulled out his Plumbers badge. "Now I gotta confiscate your rifle. Its Level 7 technology and you know Earth is only at Level 2. Shame on you."

There was a pause in which Ben wondered if Kevin was gonna start a fight. He seemed to be glaring at Cooper an awful lot anyway. But then he raised his head and shouted over the crowd, "Will someone over twenty-one please get this guy a drink! He's acting way to responsible for this party."

An alien Ben didn't recognize came up to their circle and pressed an unlabeled bottle into Cooper's hand. "Here, pup, this'll put some hair on your face." …And then he melted back into the crowd. Lost in the party.

Cooper looked at the unlabeled bottle in his hand. Thought about what he should do. Decided not to give into the -subtle- peer pressure. He set the bottle down on the work bench next to Kevin. "I don't know why I came to this thing. With the exception of these five here-" he indicated Ben, Pierce, Helen, Manny, and Gwen "-everyone here is some version of a criminal."

He turned round and walked away. 

"Don't be a stranger!" Kevin called after him. "And thanks for the rounds!"

It was only after Cooper left that Emily wheeled up to the circle. "Gwen, I think I'm gonna go home." She said. "It was nice of Kevin to invite me, but this isn't really my crowd…"

For a moment, Gwen looked like she was about to protest. It would be nice if her normal friends could get along with her… 'not really normal at all' friends. But at the same time, Kevin's particular collection of people he loosely applied the word 'friend' to weren't the best place to start acclimating her own friends to. So, she nodded and hopped down off the worktable. "This is actually good timing. I know a perfectly trustworthy guy to take you home. …If I can catch him. Wait here."

And by 'wait here', Emily heard 'follow after me as I run out the garage shouting'. 

"Cooper! Hey, Cooper, wait up!"

He was at the sidewalk when he turned at the sound of Gwen pleading for him to wait for her. Had she suddenly come to her senses? Realized that Kevin was not the man for her and that her perfect man was right in front of her the whole time? Cooper paused in his step and tried his best not to stare openly at her figure -nearly on full display- in that costume that looked like it walked off the Star Wars film set (it wasn't gentlemanly to stare, and Cooper liked to think of himself as a gentleman). 

She stopped a few paces from him. "If you're leaving, would you mind giving my friend a ride?"

Damn it! Of course. Why would he ever think she was chasing after him because she wanted him? Typical Gwendolyn Tennyson. She only ever seemed to notice him when she needed something from him. But then, what did it say about him when all he ever did was respond with, "Sure. I can give your friend a ride. Anything for you, Gwen. Where does she live?"

Gwen smiled at him. A dazzling, glittering smile that gave Cooper butterflies in his stomach. The corners of her mouth didn't reach quite as high as they did when she smiled at Kevin, but he would take what he could get. "Great! Thanks! And don't worry, I'll help you get her into the passenger seat, but you'll be on your own to get her out. How much room is in your trunk? Her chair's collapsable, but if it doesn't fit, I'll help you maneuver it into the backseat."

"Wait, what?" He blinked at her. 

It was then that Cooper noticed the blond girl in a wheel care coming up to them. Around Gwen's age, medium length blond hair pulled back with a sequined headband. She wore a matching sequin top for the party, the kind that showed off her collarbone and shoulders, but in place of the skin-tight leggings that most girls would pair with such a shirt, was, instead, a heavy looking wool skirt -more practical than stylish (this was a mostly outdoor party and it was mid-November). 

She stopped next to Gwen, her eyes looking him up and down, pausing at his Registered Mutant badge, continuing up to his handsome face, then returning to the badge. "Hi, I'm Emily." She said politely. Then, after a hesitant pause, "You don't turn into anything weird, do you?"

"No." He assured her, very unamused. Ever since Registration and being required to wear the stupid helix badge, that was the first thing anyone ever asked him upon meeting him. 'What kinda mutant are you? Can you, like, control metal or read minds?' "My mutation would be classified as 'non-combatant/support'. My name is Cooper, by the way."

Then she smiled a real smile. Full of friendliness and warmth. As if to say she didn't care about his mutation beyond that one concern. It was almost as dazzling and beautiful as Gwen's smile. Almost. "So then, you wouldn't always be rushing off to fights, or missing your friends important events. In that case, I'm pleased to meet you, Cooper."

That was not the reaction Cooper had been expecting. 

Back with Kevin, Ben reclaimed the center of attention. "Dude! Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday? I had no idea! I must have missed the Facebook notification."

"No you didn't." Kevin assured him. "I un-friended you, like, a week ago. You don't get notifications for people who aren't your friends. Also, it doesn't tell the person when they've been un-friended, so there's no IRL drama. I love Facebook. But I am surprised Julie didn't bring you as her 'plus one'. You two on another 'break'?"

Ben chose to ignore the Facebook comments. Kevin almost never went on there anyway, so being un-friended by him was basically meaningless. The thing that Ben focused on was, "Wait a minute! You invited Julie? My Julie! Without me? Who in Bellwood didn't you invite to this thing!?"

Kevin counted on his fingers. "Well, you… your obnoxious fan boy Jimmy, Cash, J.T., and anybody's parents. That's about it."

Ben opened his mouth to say something. Changed his mind. Closed it again. He groaned, running a hand through his short auburn hair in frustration. They might have been friends for a little over two years now, but sometimes Ben still just didn't know how to deal with Kevin. So it was with a sigh that he decided to be the bigger person and not allow himself to be goaded into an argument. "Just point me to where I can find Julie."

"You should have passed her on your way in." Helen informed him. "Last I saw her, she was on the lawn with Ship. They were showing off some of his tricks." Then the music changed. "Oh! I love this song! Manny, come dance with me!"

"That sounds like a good idea." Kevin hopped down from the work table he was sitting on. "I'm gonna find my girlfriend for a dance."

And within moments the circle was dispersed, everyone going in a separate direction and leaving Ben alone. He shrugged, deciding not to let it bother him, and went to find Julie.

She was on the lawn, exactly where Helen said she would be. Surrounded by her own circle of people -humans and aliens alike- watching her show off Ship and all the things he could turn into. (All the mundane, terran things he could turn into. Julie wasn't about to have ship turn into a weapon or a spaceship -or a spaceship with weapons- right in the middle of a suburb.) Ben pushed his way into the circle just as Ship had shifted into a tennis ball machine and began pelting Julie with balls. She hand't brought her racket (who brings a tennis racket to a party?) so instead she caught the balls and tossed them back at Ship. The crowd clapped with admiration. 

"Nice reflexes!" Ben beamed with admiration, deciding to take the high road for the moment and not be peeved that she brought her cybernetic space-dog as her plus one instead of him. There would be time to be peeved later when they weren't surrounded by an audience. 

But Ben's comment broke her concentration and Ship's last ball went flaying past Julie's hand (which wasn't extended far enough) and smacked the Savior of the Universe square in the face. Ship immediately turned back into his base form, a strange amalgamation of a dog, a computer hard drive, and a seal pup, and hop-trotted over to Ben to make sure he was okay. Julie likewise wheeled around to make sure her estranged boyfriend -friend who was more than a friend but less than a boyfriend?- wasn't killed instantly by the sheer embarrassment of being pelted in the face with a ball. Men generally didn't enjoy taking balls to the face.

"Ben! Are you okay?" She asked, placing her hands on either side of his head and forcing him to look at her. His nose was bleeding, but other than that, he looked fine. 

"I've had worse." He admitted. 

"Good." Suddenly she wasn't all that concerned anymore. "What are you doing here, anyway? When I didn't see you on the Facebook Event, I assumed you and Kevin were still fighting."

Ben made a face. In order to be fighting, they would have to see each other -or at the very least talk to one another- to continue the fight. But Ben hadn't seen or spoken with either Kevin or Gwen in the past week. "Actually, I came here to try and push past this stupid disagreement."

"How big of you." She commented dryly. "So, when are you gonna randomly show up at my house while I'm entertaining friends and try to repair our dysfunctional relationship?"

And he was suddenly thrown off kilter. "Oh, well… I, uh…"

"Uh-huh. That's what I thought." Julie scooped Ship up into her arms and brushed past him. Crossing the lawn to where a snack table had been set up with chips and dip. 

Ben stood there on the grass, not really knowing what he should do. He had come here to try and reconcile with his best friend and his cousin. But they were to preoccupied at the moment to pay any attention to him. He tried not to watch as Gwen grinded against the Osmosian in a very un-Gwenlike way, Kevin's hands resting inappropriately low on her hips as she pressed her backside into him. Nope. They were far to preoccupied to pay attention to him and he did not want to see that. 

Julie, it seemed, didn't wanna talk to him either. Helen and Manny were likewise occupied dancing in the driveway, Pierce and Argit were engrossed in a conversation that Ben didn't think he would be able to insert himself into. Maybe if Cooper had hung around he could have chilled with him. But the tech-wizard left almost as soon as he arrived. Ben sighed. There just didn't seem to be a place for him in this crowd. Last year he would have been the center of attention. Savior of the Universe. Wielder of the Omnitrix. Hero Who Defeated Diagon… Now he was just the Jackass Who Supported the ETRA. No one wanted him anymore. 

For the first time since finding the Omnitrix when he was ten years old, Ben felt like he was completely alone in the world. 

With a second, deeper, sigh of resignation Ben trotted back to his car and went home. If Kevin or Gwen wanted to reconcile, then they could come to him. He made his requisite first step. Now it was up to them whether or not to meet him half way. 

…

The car ride to take Gwen's friend home was… awkward. 

It wasn't enough that they were two strangers spontaneously thrown together at a party neither one of them particularly enjoyed -although that was awkward in and of itself. But on top of that, Cooper (still) just didn't know how to talk to girls. The only women -not including his mother- that he'd held extended conversations with were Helen Wheels and Gwendolyn Tennyson. Neither of which were exactly what one would call 'normal girls'. Emily on the other hand -apart from the chair- appeared normal in every respect. How did one talk to a normal girl?

"So… How do you know Gwen?" He asked after a few blocks. 

"We've been best friends since kindergarten." She answered easily enough. And that was it. That was the entirety of that exchange. One question and one answer. No further information offered, no anecdotes. Just the information requested. "Turn right on Evergreen and then keep left, the road forks." 

He nodded and turned his attendant back to driving. He turned right on the designated street and merged into the left lane. After the fork he glanced at Emily for the next direction. 

"We're gonna be on this road for a while." She informed him. "My house is on the Crest." 

"The rich part of town?" Cooper blinked and looked out at the hill in the distance rising up from the rest of Bellwood. The Crest was one of Bellwood's old neighborhoods with the highest property values. You didn't buy a house on the Crest, you waited for a rich uncle to leave you one.

Emily only shrugged. 

Cooper cleared his throat. His lower-middle class upbringing was showing and that made him feel self-conscious. Best to change the subject. "How about some music?"

He flicked on the car's stereo and realized just a few seconds to late that his iPod was still hooked up. Instead of his radio pre-sets, the sound that poured out of his speakers was a random selection off one of his -rather eclectic- playlists. Specifically, a piano cover of the opening theme to one of his favorite anime. Shit! 

…But, miraculously, this did not seem to bother Gwen's friend. The exact opposite in fact, she seemed to be intrigued. "This is an interesting piece." She remarked. "Who's the composer?"

And she placed her hands on the dash, moving her fingers as if mimicking the piano keys. Risking taking his eyes off the road, Cooper stared at her in awe for a few seconds before remembering that she asked a question. He stuttered for a few seconds before supplying, "Uh, um, Hidetoshi Sato."

"Oh, a Japanese composer." She nodded to herself as if confirming something she'd already been thinking. "It does have that sound to it. Ya know, I saw Nobuyuki Tsujii preform once. My parents and I were vacationing in Amsterdam -I know, not the place you'd expect to see a Japanese pianist- but he was really great!"

Cooper had no idea who that was. "Um… cool?"

"So, what's this piece called?" She picked up his iPod.

Cooper was quick to put his hand over it before she had the chance to read 'Eva Theme Piano Ver.' Gently pulling the mp3 player out of her hands he replaced it back in the cup holder before answering, "It's official title is 'Cruel Angel Thesis' and it was not actually meant to be an instrumental piece."

"Oh." And she looked disappointed. "Well, it makes a lovely piano piece. I might look up some sheet music for it when I get home."

Darn it! "Then I should warn you: its from a cartoon."

"Noted. Make a left up here and go up the hill." She smiled at him, a mischievous sort of smile. "So, Cooper who listens to music from cartoons, how do you know Gwen and Kevin?"

"We saved the world together. A couple times actually. Saved Kevin, too. Though I did it more for Gwen than for him." He shrugged, trying to appear casual, hoping none of his bitterness or resentment over that particular melodrama didn't bleed through. It still rubbed Cooper raw that Gwen would ask him to do that when she knew how he felt about her. Knew that Cooper was freaking in love with her and yet not only ask him to help her save his rival, but also mack-out right in front of him the moment Kevin was back to normal! Really! Gwen was usually a nice person, but that was really a bitch move. …And to spite that, Cooper was still infatuated with her. Why did he like her so much?

"And I see you're also a supporter of the ETRA." Emily was saying. She reached across his chest and flicked the badge pinned to his jacket. "You're a bit of a minority in the extra-human community. The general feel I got from the rest of the people at that party was that the ETRA is the start of the end of the world. I gotta say, its actually refreshing to meet someone who doesn't feel that way."

"Um… actually, I hate Registration about as much as any other extra-human." Cooper informed her, a bit incensed at her assumption. 

"Oh, sorry." She flushed with embarrassment. "I just saw your badge and assumed… I guess I should have asked." Emily cleared her throat. "But, ya know, it shouldn't be that big a deal anyway. The Registry, I mean. Its not like they can actually hurt you."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Oh, that's a general 'you', not 'you' personally, Mr. Non-combat/Support." Emily elaborated. "I mean, most people in the extra-human community have super-powers or strange abilities, or absurdly powerful weapons. What do any of you really expect a bunch of normal humans to do to you? Take Kevin for example, if someone tried to shoot him, he'd just turn himself into something that bullets would just bounce off of." 

And, knowing him, he'd probably also do it in a way that caused said hypothetical bullets to ricochet so that they'd bounce back and hit his the original shooter. He'd probably find it hilarious too and laugh at the shooter as he lay bleeding on the ground. Kevin was an asshole like that. Once again, Cooper couldn't understand what Gwen saw in him. 

"The issue most people take with the Registry isn't so much what we fear people might do to us." Cooper informed her. "Its the implication that there's something wrong with us that we need to be watched."

"Its insulting. I get it." Emily nodded her head. "But that's about all it is. It can't hurt you. Look, last week I found a threatening note taped to Gwen's locker. I don't know who put it there, but I had my suspicions. A couple days later, my two top suspects suddenly changed their attitudes completely and now are the two nicest people in the world to Gwen. Always offering to carry her books for her and telling other people to leave her alone when she's not around. Its weird. My theory: they probably escalated their taunting from leaving hateful notes to actually confronting her in person. The thing is… Gwen fights space monsters and throws energy around like whiffle balls. I don't know what she did, but whatever it was, it scared them straight. Anyway, the point of this story is that if you all would stop being insulted for a sec and take a moment to actually look at things, you'd realize that the ETRA is really just a bunch of hot air."

There was a pregnant pause while Cooper thought about what she said. Then, "I don't disagree with anything you've just said. The average person on the street can't hurt the average extra-human. But, I've also met plenty of humans that are capable of harming extra-humans. Even people with powers like Gwen's and Kevin's." He informed her. "Most of them are card carrying members of the Forever Party -the ones who proposed the Act in the first place. So, you'll excuse me for being just the tad bit nervous. And that doesn't even count the members of the government and military who were taking down aliens before this whole mess started. Over the course of fifty years, normal humans somehow managed to capture and contain almost eight hundred extraterrestrials."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest skeptically. "Now, how could you possibly know that?"

"I'm a Plumber too." He informed her. "I was the first responder when Area 51 disappeared and I was the one who made the initial discovery of the prison beneath the facility that held seven hundred and seventy-five alien prisoners -all with powers of their own. So, excuse me for not trusting our government when it wants to know who is and isn't an extra-human and where they are every minute of the day."

"Okay." Emily soothed. "Lets take a breath and calm down." 

Cooper did take a breath. It wouldn't win him any browny points with Gwen to alienate her friend. "Anyway, which one's your house?"

"Oh, we passed it three blocks back." Emily informed him. "We were so in grossed in our conversation."

Cooper pulled into the first empty driveway he saw and turned around. "I didn't mean to get all worked up. It just irritates me when people who support the ETRA seem to marginalize the concerns of the people who oppose it. Like Ben did when he registered."

"Oh, gawd! Please do not compare me to Ben Tennyson!" Emily sounded genuinely horror struck. "And I never said I supported the ETRA. I said the ETRA can't hurt you. The way Gwen and Kevin talk, you'd think it was the start of a race-war or something. But its not. Its just bigots being stupid and paranoid. I don't think its as terrible as everyone is making it out to be. But that doesn't mean I support it. I am against it. But not for the same reason everyone else seems to be. -This is my house, by the way."

Cooper pulled into the driveway. "Then why are you against it?"

"Because its causing unnecessary tension. The ETRA is creating the very problem it was made to solve -a problem which did not tangibly exist until the Act was proposed, I might add. Yes, after the thing with Diagon, people were scared. But the ETRA talks made them more scared and it got to the people who weren't scared yet, and convinced them they should be. Then it passed and now the extra-human community is feeling persecuted. Its taking two groups that previously had nothing to do with one another and making them fear each other. People on both sides are angry and eventually, someone is gonna do something stupid and then everything's just gonna explode."

"I… didn't think about it that way." Cooper admitted. Its was stirring up negativity and even creating it where there wasn't any before.

"Of course not." Emily shook her head. "You're also an extra-human. You were to busy feeling insulted and persecuted." 

They sat in silence for a moment. Cooper thinking on what Emily said, Emily waiting for him to remember that she needed him to pull her chair out of the trunk before she could maneuver herself from the passenger seat. She wasn't wrong. While the onset of this conversation did piss him off a bit, Cooper had to admit that Emily did make a very valid point.

"Cooper?" She said, after a prolonged pause.

"Yeah?"

"Its late and I'd like to go home." 

He stared at her in confusion for a second or two. "Oh! Oh, right!"

Hopping out of the driver's seat, Cooper popped his trunk and pulled out her wheel chair. Unfolding it just the way Gwen showed him, he set it up next to the open passenger door and held it steady while Emily maneuvered herself -with seeming difficulty- from car to chair. Once in it, she executed an almost flawless one hundred and eighty degree turn to face him him. "Thank you for the ride."

"No problem." He smiled down at her. "I actually enjoyed our conversation. You've given me something to think about."

"And you've given me a bit of music to look up."

He flushed with embarrassment. "Ya know, you really don't have to… its from such a stupid show. I mean, the main character is so…"

"Cooper," She cut him off. "Have you heard of a series called 'Princess Tutu'?"

"No."

"Its one of my favorite series, and its also an anime. So shut up." Emily turned her chair around and started rolling up the driveway to her house. 

Cooper meanwhile stood there, transfixed. He had just met an intelligent and pretty girl who liked nerd things. She was almost as perfect as Gwen! He should ask for her number. That was what you did right? When you met a smart and pretty girl who had common interests. You asked for their phone number. That was the thing. Cooper opened his mouth to speak, but Emily was already gone. The front door closed behind her. He missed his opportunity. Damn. 

It was probably for the best anyway. Cooper was in love with Gwen. He couldn't cheat on her by trying to transfer his feelings onto someone else. Besides, Emily was her friend! Her best friend since kindergarten, apparently. How could he come between two best friends like that. It was most ungentlemanly. No, it was a good thing he didn't get the opportunity to ask for Emily's number. He would stay true to Gwen and not look at other women. No matter how intelligent, pretty, or nerdy they were.

…

Unfortunately for Cooper, he could not be farther from Gwen's mind as she helped Kevin pick up after his party. 

"Ya know… I still haven't given you my present yet." She informed him as she tossed red solo cups into a bag. 

"I thought wearing the sexy costume for me was your present." Kevin smirked at her. She looked so good in it. And the way the other guys looked -not at her, but at him- so envious that he was the one with such a hot and sexy creature on his arm. It was such a wonderful stroke to his ego. 

"I didn't know you were gonna put me in something like this when I left the house this afternoon." She reminded him. 

Now Kevin was intrigued. She didn't bring over a package, or box, or bag, or anything when she arrived earlier that afternoon. So, what was his present? "Okay, so what'd you get me?"

Gwen shook her head, a coy smile playing across her lips. "Uh-uh. You can't have it here in the uncomfortable garage. You have to wait until we're back in the privacy of your bedroom."

"Oh?" Suddenly more motivated than he was a second ago, Kevin began furiously sliding trash into his own plastic bag. Dirty napkins, empty red cups, paper plates, used condoms (what the hell!?), empty cans and bottles. He took his bag and Gwen's and tossed them on (near) the already overflowing black trash bin. "The place isn't comfortable enough?"

He picked her up and carried Gwen to the front door. 

"Don't you wanna separate the recycling into the blue bin first?" She suggested. 

"No." Kevin maneuvered himself to open the door without dropping her.

"I would just like to point out that you are carrying me across the threshold bridal-style." Gwen giggled with amusement. 

He set her down on her feet quickly. Kevin had already decided he would like to spend the rest of his life with her. But deciding something in your head and being confronted with that something in a real world sense were two completely different things. So he put her on her feet and took her hand instead, leading her down the hall to the bedroom. "Okay. We're here. What's my present?"

Gwen glanced around the room. "Ya know, what I really should have gotten you was a vacuum. Really, Kevin, would it kill you to clean-up in here once in a while?"

It wasn't that his room was cluttered or messy. On the contrary, the floor was clear of debris (unlike Ben's room had ever been), there were no crumpled cloths from three days ago, discarded textbooks (because Kevin did have textbooks), or empty smoothie cups littering the floor. But there were other kinds of mess. Torn remnants of paper, dust-bunnies, and oil stains.

"Look, not everyone can be a crazy neat-freak and keep their room perfect like you, okay." He informed her. 

"I suppose that's true." Gwen shrugged. Crossing the room, she pushed Kevin down on his (unmade) bed. Hands going to his belt buckle.

Kevin nearly jumped with mingle excitement and surprise (and just maybe the feel of her hands in just that general region). "Whoa! I thought keeping our clothes on was a big thing for you." He reminded her. Even through all of the heavy petting they'd been doing over the past week, neither one of them had disrobed once. It was Gwen's rule, not his. "No sex until you're also eighteen, remember."

"We're not gonna have sex." She scoffed. As if to say that he should know her well enough by now to know that she didn't change her mind so easily. But also, that a lot could be done in the space between kissing, and vaginal penetration. "But it is your birthday, so you deserve something special."

She pulled Kevin's jeans down to his knees and slid a hand over the partial erection that quivered with nervous excitement just underneath the thin black fabric of his briefs. This was the most unclothed he'd been since they began having 'not-sex'. It still wasn't skin to skin, but it was closer. So much closer. And just that thought alone excited Kevin, pushing his partial stiffy to a full blown hard-on in seconds. 

"Hm, someone's happy." Gwen smirked at how he swelled beneath her hand. "And I haven't even started yet."

"What are you gonna start?" Kevin asked, voice shaky with barely tempered desire. 

In answer, Gwen only smiled. A coy, sultry smile. One Kevin had never seen on her lips before. It was sensual, flirtatious, and just a little teasing. It was the hottest thing Kevin had ever seen. Way sexier than the damn costume he made her wear all evening. 

"Oh, baby, please don't tease me." Kevin begged, penis straining against the fabric of his briefs. 

Gwen blinked at him, suddenly surprised. "Kevin. Did you just… beg?"

"N-no."

"You did. You just begged!" She climbed on top of him. "Do it again!"

"What? No!" He sputtered, at a loss as to what to think. Not that it was particularly easy to think with her bare thighs straddling his narrow hips. Gawd! She was so hot! Kevin found his hips thrusting upwards, the tent in his briefs rubbing against her light cotton panties. "Kevin E. Levin does not beg!"

"Hm. But he does talk about himself in the third person." She circled a finger around the tip of his tent. 

He groaned at the sensation. "Come on, Baby, its my birthday. I shouldn't have to beg for presents."

"I suppose that's true." Gwen sighed. She slid back down his body, resting her knees on the floor and pulled his underwear down to join his jeans. Then she did something Kevin did not expect. 

She closed her mouth around his still and throbbing erection. 

Her hot wet mouth. 

Around his bare and exposed penis. 

It wasn't the skin-to-skin he had been craving. But it was still skin-to-skin and god did it feel good! Her soft, full lips sucked and massaged his shaft while her slippery wet tongue polished his tip. It was… it was… Kevin's brain struggled for words, his head to fuzzy from pleasure to form complexed thoughts. The way her tongue slip around him with slippery friction. The way her lips pressed around him, slid up and down him. Tight and firm, but still so soft and smooth… Complexed thoughts might have been beyond him, but one very simple thought did manage to escape Kevin's mouth. Unbidden but equally unhindered. With a pleasured sigh, he moaned. 

"Ah… Gwen, I love you."

Then everything stopped. 

"What?" Gwen's head came up. Her ministrations forgotten as she stared at him. 

"What?" Kevin echoed, unsure of what exactly had just escaped his stupid mouth. 

Kevin had never said it before. Oh, he felt it, sure. They were both well aware of that fact. It was a fairly well established fact. Communicated through their actions towards one another and for one another. On multiple occasions they had both proved both the nature and the depth of their feelings for each other. But neither had ever said the words out loud before. No. It was always 'I like you', or 'You're great', or 'I'm so attracted to you right now', etc. Neither one of them ever used the L-word. Certainly neither one of them expected Kevin to be the first one to say it. 

They just stared at each other. The L-word hanging between them.

The silence stretched on for one… two… three beats. 

Then Kevin took Gwen's hand, pulling her onto the bed next to him. 

"Well, I guess the Appoplexian's outta the bag. No point trying to take it back." He leaned in and kissed her. A soft gentle kiss on the lips. The kind he rarely bestowed. Usually Kevin's kisses were hesitant and unsure. Inexperienced and a little to wet (sloppy). But this one was different. Tender and earnest. Confident and sure. He might still be just a teenager. Young and stupid. But he knew himself and he knew his own feelings. "I'm in love with you, Gwendolyn Eleanor Tennyson."

It was all she could do to just continue gazing into his dark eyes. A brown so deep they might as well be black. Gwen once again closed the space between them and returned his kiss with one of her own. But while Kevin's was tender and earnest, Gwen's was passionate and deep. Intense. Burning hot and bright, like she did. 

"I already knew that."

...


	6. Lot of Gray

_“Police officers may drive black and white cars, however what goes on in their job is a lot of gray.”_ -Arik Matson  
…

The morning -or in some cases the afternoon- after a late party is usually the most offensive part of the day. But waking up with the right person can turn the obnoxious light into a brilliant and beautiful sunrise. 

At least, that was how Kevin felt as he watched the sunlight streaming in through his blinds catch on Gwen's red hair, turning it glowing shades of gold and copper. Like her hair was spun from silk-fine fibers of the most precious metals in the universe and then lit on fire by the flames of Olympus. Kevin didn't usually give himself over to such fanciful and romantic imagery, but every now and again, Gwen inspired it in him. 

And last night had been very inspiring. 

They did not have sex. 

Gwen held him to their agreement to wait until she was also of legal age. But after Kevin's spontaneous confession of his deeper feelings last night… she had been inspired. They did everything up to sliding into her, but did not cross that barrier. Even so, they were both so exhausted from their exertions that Kevin didn't think he could stay awake long enough to drive her home. That was just fine, because Gwen was perfectly content to just lay in his bed and cuddle. That was how they fell asleep.

And how they woke up. 

Gwen's luminescent green eyes fluttered open as Kevin stroked her hair. Brushing the glowing red, copper and gold strands out of her face. 

"Morning." He whispered. 

"Morning." She sighed back. "Were you watching me sleep?"

Kevin missed a beat. "N-no."

"Good. Because that's creepy. Only creepers watch women sleep." Gwen rolled out of bed -clad in only her lacy blue panties- and scooped up the first article of clothing her hand touched. It turned out to be Kevin's shirt from the previous night and she pulled it on over her head with a shrug. "Do you have anything to eat?"

God! She looked so hot in his clothes! Kevin almost wanted to eat her for breakfast. As if he didn't eat her enough last night. Heh, heh. Kevin could not stop the smirk that crossed his face at the memory of her writhing on top of him, her mouth moaning around his cock while he licked and fingered her slit. 

"What's that look for?" She asked.

"Nothing." Kevin was quick to respond. His minds eye replaying for him the highlights of the previous night. The expression on her face as she closed her mouth around his stiff, throbbing erection. The feeling of his head between her thighs when he finally convinced her to swing around and do a sixty-nine with him. The wet pink lips of her netters as he parted them just enough to slither his tongue inside. The sight of his thick white spunk splattered all over her face when she finally pushed him to his climax. God! She was beautiful with his stuff all over her face!

"Your dick's getting hard again." Gwen informed him casually. 

Kevin looked down at his stiff member, out, exposed, and standing at attention. Then he looked back up at her. "Wanna go again?"

"No. I gotta get home." She reminded him, searching the bedroom floor for her clothes. Her real clothes, not that gawd awful skimpy costume he made her wear last night. 

"Alright. Then can I have some pants?"

A wadded bundle of denim was tossed in his general direction. It landed on the bed next to him and was reveled to be the same pants he wore the previous night at the party. He should really wash them. Kevin slipped them on -sans underwear- and stood. "Okay. Breakfast for my Lady, and then a chariot home."

He disappeared out the bedroom door and down the hall. 

…And walked into the kitchen to find his mother just coming in and setting her purse down. 

"M-mom?" Kevin stopped short. "You're home."

"Yes." Leah nodded. "This is usually the time I come home after my graveyard shift."

Right. That was how he was actually able to have his party last night. Because his mother would be gone all night, working at the clinic. So he had the whole house to himself and could invite over as many disreputable friends as he wanted. Just so long as he cleaned the house up before she came home, of course. The house was clean. But Kevin hadn't exactly ben planning on his girlfriend spending the night and he suddenly realized he didn't know how his mother would react to finding Gwen still here. 

"I knew that." 

"Uh-huh." She sat down on the couch and started taking her shoes off. Leah's feet always hurt terribly when she got home from her shifts. "House looks to still be in one piece. Must have been one boring party last night."

Kevin gave what he hoped was a casual shrug. "It was just me and a couple of friends."

It was at that moment that Gwen came walking into the living room. Still wearing just her panties and Kevin's t-shift. "Alright, I give up. I can't find where you hid my clothes last night. You go find- Oh!" She stopped short seeing Leah sitting on the couch. Gwen tried to pull the hem of Kevin's shirt down just a bit farther to cover more of her thighs. Her face turning very, very red. "Mrs. Levin. You're home. Hi… Uh…" 

Leah stood, giving Gwen an appraising look. Taking in her tossed and tangled hair, the love-bites on her neck, wearing Kevin's shirt, no pants. The older woman pursed her lips in a thin line of… not quite disapproval. Something between disappointment and concern. She turned to her son and very, very calmly said, "Kevin, go find her clothes. Now."

And Gwen had never seen Kevin move so quickly. He hopped from the living room, down the hall and back into his bedroom. He was gone not even five minutes before reappearing again with her clothes. Her real clothes, not that skimpy costume from the pervious night. Her white collared blouse, red sweater, black skirt and matching tights. He handed them to her, his face an equal shade of red. 

"Gwen, go get dressed." Leah commanded. "I'll drive you home as soon as you're ready. Kevin, a word."

She did not even wait for a response from either of them. Leah grabbed her son by the ear and dragged him into the kitchen. "Ow, ow, ow, ow…"

Leah waited just long enough to hear the bedroom door close behind Gwen before she rounded on her son. "Did you have sex with that girl?"

Blunt. Straight forward. No dancing around words or using ambiguous terminology. It wasn't 'Did you sleep with her?', no. It was 'Did you have sex?' That was a little uncommonly blunt for Leah. As a general rule, she and Kevin tried to be straightforward with one another ever since Kevin decided he was ready to reconcile with his mother and re-entered her life. But there were just some things that would always be uncomfortable for a parent to discuss with their teenage child. Sex was one of those things. So it was a real testament to just how serious Leah seemed to think it was when she flat out asked him if he slept with Gwen. 

"No." Kevin answered truthfully. 

"Don't lie to me." Leah warned. 

"We didn't!" Kevin insisted. "Yes, we got naked together. Yes, we did stuff. Yes, we slept in the same bed. But we did not have sex."

Leah continued to glare at him skeptically. Her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes boring into him. Piecing him with their dark stare. Most 'normal' mothers -or more accurately, mothers with 'normal' children- possessed something called The Look. A strange and undefinable super-power that made their children cave and confess all. But if Leah possessed such a Look, Kevin was immune to it. They both knew, a Look was just a look, there was nothing to back it up. There was nothing Leah could do to make her son talk. She could only take Kevin's word at face value and hope she wasn't being lied to. 

But in this one instance, his word just wasn't good enough. Leah had to be sure. "I want you to stop seeing her unchaperoned."

"What!? You can't stop me from seeing Gwen!" Kevin snarled.

"I didn't say you can't see her anymore. I said you can't see her unchaperoned." Leah clarified. "You cannot have sex with her." 

"Why the hell not!?" He demanded. "Because I'm eighteen now and she's not? That's why we haven't had sex yet. We're waiting. We're being responsible. I'd think you'd be happy I'm finally being responsible."

"Its because you're Osmosian." Leah stated flatly. 

Kevin was taken aback. Blinking. "You're afraid I'll absorb her."

He would be lying if he didn't admit he was a bit insulted. But personal offense aside, Kevin did have to admit that it was a very real and valid concern. After all, he had tried to absorb Gwen in the past. True, it was only after he'd already absorbed the power of the Ultimatrix, Aggregor, and a number of others. Was drunk off their energy and incapable of thinking clearly. Incapable of seeing Gwen's Anodite power as anything else besides food. A feast, really. But at his normal baseline, when he was in his right mind and had control of his instincts and energy cravings… there shouldn't be any real danger. Should there?

Leah sighed. Of course, that would be where his mind would go. "No, sweetheart, I don't think you'll absorb her."

"Then what's the problem!?"

She heaved a second sigh. "I wish Devin were here…" Placing both hands on her son's shoulders, Leah looked him straight in the eyes and said very soberly. "Listen, Osmosians take only one mate for their whole lives. If you go all the way with Gwen, then you will be bound to her for the rest of your life."

"I'm still not seeing a problem here."

"The problem is that you will be incapable of looking at any other woman for the rest of your life! You can never leave Gwen. While she, on the other hand, can walk out on you whenever she likes. I know Gwen thinks she's in love with you right now. But you're still just children. Who knows if she's gonna still be in love with you ten years from now, five years from now. Or even next year! And I know you, Kevin. If you go all the way with Gwen, and she leaves you, you'll… well, you'll pull a Kevin!"

'Pulling a Kevin' had become the phrase to refer to when anyone in their community stole powers, got drunk off energy, or just threw a temper tantrum so violent that they went on a destructive (possibly homicidal) rampage, attacking friend and foe alike. Kevin was not proud to be the namesake for such a thing. But he did have to begrudgingly admit that he had earned it. 

To spite that, he stilled denied what his mother was saying. "No I won't!"

Leah just looked at him. The look of someone who knew him well enough to know the difference between when he was trying to convince her and when he was trying to convince himself. "Oh, really…? Alright then. Lets do a thought experiment. Lets say you sleep with Gwen. She's your bond-mate. You've been together for years. Maybe you even have a kid or two. But she wants a divorce. It doesn't matter the reason, people get divorced all the time. The spark's gone out of the relationship. You had kids to soon. Your jobs get in the way. Money troubles. Legal troubles. She found someone else. Whatever. She leaves you. What do you do?"

Kevin's knee-jerk reaction was to insist that Gwen would never leave him. But that was just him avoiding the question. What if Gwen left him? Kevin didn't really know how he would react. Oh, he knew he would react badly. That was a given. He had never been to good when it came to hearing news he didn't like. A perfect example being when his mother and her then-boyfriend, Harvey Hackett, announced their engagement. His reaction to that was to destroy the house and run away from home. The first time he 'pulled a Kevin'. So, Kevin knew that if Gwen ever left him, his reaction would definitely be anything but constructive. The question was, how violent and destructive would he get?

Well, that would depend on the reason for her leaving, he supposed. 

If the spark had just gone out of their relationship, Kevin imagined himself doing something he would think was romantic but was actually stalkerish. Like kidnapping her and sequestering the two of them on some alien planet with giant man-eating monsters, so they could reconnect with the basis of their relationship, but also white sandy beaches and dazzling sunsets so they could have a few moments of beauty and romance in between fighting for survival. 

Having children to soon, didn't really seem like much of a reason to break up to Kevin. In fact, to his mind, that was really more of a reason to stay together. So, he really didn't know how he would react if that was why she wanted to leave him. And who would get the kids in their split anyway? Gwen couldn't be left alone and unprotected with something that could absorb her if she let her guard down. And he couldn't take an Anodite child for pretty much the exact same reason. No, if he and Gwen had children, it would take both of them to raise said hypothetical offspring safely. There was no way she would leave him if they kids. 

Their jobs getting in the way, and money troubles be found equally as unlikely as having kids being a reason to break-up. He and Gwen already lived bus lives between his clandestine business, and her school and extracurriculars. Neither of them had much time. Yet they still managed to make time for one another. And if this senario was taking place years in the future when they should be living together it just wasn't a legitimate concern. The same went for money trouble. Kevin as to capful with his money and Gwen was to smart for either of them to have financial troubles. 

Legal problems on the other hand… like if he was sent back to the Null Void. That could put a wrinkle in things. The Null Void doesn't exactly allow for conjugal visits and depending how long he was stuck in there, it wasn't completely crazy to think Gwen would try and move on from him. Honestly, Kevin didn't know how he would react to that either. He would be stuck in a pocket detention set apart from the rest of the world. Would his reaction even matter?

But Kevin definitely knew how he would react if Gwen found someone else. Kill them. Simple. Easy. (Just don't let Gwen find out he was the doer.)

Leah correctly guessed the trail of her son's thoughts. "You are beginning to see my point, yes?"

Kevin remained silent. Still lost in his thoughts. It didn't matter the reason. If Gwen ever left him, he do one version or another of pulling a Kevin. He just hoped that when he did, he didn't try to absorb her again. Kevin couldn't live with himself if that happened a second time around. …And then another thought entirely occurred to him. "Mom, if Osmosians mate for life, and Gwen's my mate, what would happen if I tried to absorb her then?"

This time Leah was a long time in answering. She thought about the question carefully before saying, "I'm not completely sure about it, Devin would have been able to give you a more definite answer but… I'm pretty sure Osmosians can't absorb their mates. Certainly I never felt in danger back whenever Devin pulled a Kevin."

Oh come on! Kevin wasn't even alive back then. Did she really still have to call it 'pulling a Kevin'? Wouldn't 'pulling a Devin' be more accurate?

Then the rest of his brain caught up with what she said. "So, wait. If Gwen were my mate, I wouldn't crave her energy anymore, or try to absorb her when I go nutty?"

Suddenly, Kevin wanted to run to his bedroom, pin her to his bed, and make proper love to her right now!

"In theory. But I don't know for sure. I'm not Osmosian." Leah reminded him. "I can only tell you what Devin told me -which was not everything."

Kevin had more questions. He had so many more questions. But he didn't get to ask any of them because that was the moment Gwen chose to reenter the kitchen. This time fully clothed. White blouse, under a red sweater, black skirt over matching tights. Apart from the hair which was still a tangled mess, she looked immaculate. But then again, she always looked perfect. It was one of the things that made Gwen Gwen. 

Leah picked up her keys and slipped her shoes back on. "We're going now. Kevin, think about what I said."

The ride back to Gwen's house was quiet and awkward. 

Neither woman really knew aha tot say to the other. 

What did you say to your boyfriend's mother after she caught you half-naked wearing only her son's t-shirt?

What did you say to your son's girlfriend that wouldn't sound like a judgment or a command? Since teenagers were always so sure they knew everything. And Gwen was not Leah's daughter. It was not her job to deliver lectures or tell her how to live her life. Not that anyone should tell anyone else how to live their life. 

Up until this point, Gwen and Leah shared an easy relationship. Completely free of the stereotypical tension that characterized most in-law relationships. 

It wasn't until they finally pulled into Gwen's driveway that Leah finally spoke. She stopped and car and killed the engine, but made no move to unlock the doors. "Kevin has made consistently bad decisions through his whole life."

Gwen paused, staring at her. "You think I'm a bad decision?"

Leah offered a gentle smile. "No. Gwen, you're probably the best decision Kevin's ever made. I know my son and I know his limits and his faults. There is no doubt in my mind that he'll never find another woman as good as you. But… you can do much better than him. And I think you know that. Right now you might not care because your young and he's exciting. But one day you'll wake up and realize you don't want excitement, you want stability. And that's something that Kevin's not capable of. He's to volatile." 

"So what are you saying?" The younger woman asked, not quite sure of the point Leah was trying to make. 

Here Leah hesitated. She didn't want to imply to Gwen that she might have anything to fear from her son. But then, given their history together, Gwen was already well aware of just how dangerous Kevin could be if provoked. "Just… just please think about his temper before you jump into bed with him. I don't want to see either of you get hurt."

"Alright." Gwen promised. She always thought about every decision before she made it. 

…

The bright red convertible came to a stop just outside the farm house. Alan was already out on the porch, carrying a pitcher of cider and two glasses when Pierce hopped out of the car. The boys sat down in old wicker chairs that weeded under their weight and Alan pored the cider. 

"We missed you last night." Pierce informed him, taking his offered glass. 

Alan made a face of displeasure. "I have no intentions of hanging out with Kevin like everything's cool between us and he didn't leave me unconscious, half-dead, and abandoned in the fields the last time we met." And there was just a touch of bitterness coloring his voice. "I don't understand how the rest of you can forgive him so easily. Didn't he try and absorb your powers too?"

Well, yes, he had. All of them got a near fatal visit from Ultimate Kevin back then. Pierce, Helen, Manny… But with everything that was happening with the ETRA, the three of them agreed to put it behind them in favor of solidarity between Plumbers and Plumbers Helpers. The extra-human community was bigger than they liked to let on, but it was still very small. The last thing they needed was fighting amongst themselves. Not now that the rest of the world was turning an already biased and scrutinizing eye on them. 

"Look, I'm not saying you have to instantly forgive him for everything and become besties." Pierce shook his head. "Just, maybe, keep in touch and be civil. Of everyone in our group, you live the farthest away. That means its all the more important for us to keep up with you. Especially now that the ETRA is past and people are being branded as aliens or mutants and other people are quickly deciding they don't like either."

Alan paused mid-sip of his cider. He set the glass down on a table made from the stump of an old pine tree. "I support the ETRA."

"What?" Pierce spit out his own sip of cider. 

"And I'm registered." He added, as if to confirm the next question before it could be asked. "This is a small town, Pierce, everyone knows everyone and everyone already knows I'm a Pyronite. There's no point in not registering. And I've been helping Sheriff Mason retrain his deputies in how to combat extra-human threats."

A sort of croaking sound escaped Pierce's throat. He had so many questions for his friend they all tried to tumble out of his mouth at once, and so none of them found voice. Why was he training normal police to fight aliens and mutants? What did he expect normal people to be able to do against opponents with superpowers or abilities? How was he teaching them? What, exactly, was he teaching them?

Finally, the question that made its way out way, "Why?"

"Because of Kevin." Alan snapped, this time the bitterness in his voice was clear and unmistakable. "He left me, drained, unconscious, and half dead in my own corn field! And I'm a Pyronite. I have powers! I'm not some helpless little dove. If I can't protect myself against an enemy like him, what chance do normal people have? Think about it, Pierce. Probably not Kevin, specifically. He is just one guy and he seems to have himself under better control now. But he is not the only great and terrible threat we've faced. The DNAliens, Aggregor, Diagon. Heck! We even had to fight Ben one time. Now, tell me, what's a normal person with no knowledge or training going to do against one of them?"

Pierce heaved a sigh, rubbing a hand over the quills of his face. 

"You're not wrong." He had to admit. "But don't you think you might be putting them in more danger by giving them a false sense of confidence or security?"

"Maybe right now, yeah." Alan nodded. "But not once they get the new armor and weapons that've been promised."

"What armor and weapons?"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Alan asked. "All divisions of law enforcement are gonna be issued new weapons and body armor to help them respond to extra-human incidents."

Pierce didn't know how he felt about that.


	7. Not the Gestapo

_"Freedom is when one hears the bell at seven o'clock in the morning and knows it is the milkman and not the Gestapo."_ -Georges Bidault 

…

Being an old man, Max went to sleep at four in the afternoon and woke up at four in the morning. 

Thus, he was already awake when there was a knock on his trailer door at the ungodly hour of six in the morning. Nobody made social calls at six in the morning. Heck! Most people didn't even make business calls this early. The paper boy wouldn't be by until eight and the door to door Jehovah's Witnesses didn't start the rounds of the park until well past nine (though, admittedly, they had learned to leave Max the heck alone, some people just weren't worth it to convert). So, he was expecting to see his grandchildren and perhaps Kevin, or maybe some of the Plumbers' Kids asking for help when he opened the door. 

Who he found instead was not one of the kids seeking his sagely advice, but rather two black-suited men in dark glasses. They offered no badges or IDs, but Max knew them the moment he saw them. These were the guys who showed up after he, Phil, Wes, and Devin finished a job. They were the ones to clean up after an alien attack had been suppressed. They came up with the cover stories, controlled information, kept witnesses quiet. Just generally made sure that aliens and Plumbers stayed secret. Idly, Max found himself wondering what they were doing with their time now that aliens and Plumbers were public knowledge. 

He also wondered what the heck they were doing here. At his camper. In his trailer park. In his town. 

"Maxwell Tennyson." One of them began. It was not a question. He fished into his suit-jacket and pulled out a manila envelope. This he handed to Max. "Your skills and knowledge are required to once again serve your country and your planet."

Had he been a much younger man, those words would have inspire Max to jump on board right away. Serve his country and his planet. That sounded like an adventure! Where do I sign up? But now he was older, more experienced, a little jaded, and (hopefully) much wiser. So, he took the envelope that was handed to him, tore it open and read its contents very carefully. He did not invite the men in black suits in to sit and have coffee while he read. Max made them wait on his step as he read. 

"You want me to train a new division on how to use their equipment and lead them on missions." Max looked up.

"Just until a more permanent field commander can be found." Said the second man. "And you don't have to worry about all teams all over the country. We already have one volunteer training men, and are -as we speak- extending this same invitation to other retired Plumbers such as yourself. Who better to teach our boys to fight aliens than the men who've fought aliens before."

Max's knee-jerk reaction was to say 'no'. The purpose of Plumbers wasn't to fight aliens, it was to guard the safety of both natives and aliens aloe and mediate piece between planets. Yes, sometimes to get peace, you had to crack a few heads. That was part of the job, but it wasn't the whole job. 

He never agreed with the ETRA and had voted against it. He liked the Forever Party even less and dreaded the fact that they kept gaining more and more favor with voters (and by extension, more power in the capitol). But, Max was also smart. So, as much as he wanted to say 'hell no!' and slam his door in the men in black's faces, he did not. Instead, he slid the paper back in its envelope and said, "May I have some time to think about the offer?"

The two men exchanged a look. Not that said look could be particularly readable by either of them with those dark shades on. But then the first one nodded and said, "Please reply back in no less than five business days."

The moment they were gone, Max shut and locked the door. He slumped down on his bed that doubled as a couch, his eyes falling on a old (and slightly singed around the edges) photograph tacked to the wall. An old and faded picture featuring four men. Himself, Phillip Billings, Devin Levin, and Wesley Green. His old Plumbers partners. The same retread Plumers buddied that were probably -as he sat- receiving similar visits. 

Except that Devin was dead and Phil was stuck in the Null Void. So they were a bit hard to get into contact with. That left just Wes then. Max pulled out his cell phone and dialed the only other retired Plumber he knew that was still alive and not trapped in the Null Void. 

…

Kai was in a hurry that morning. Late for school. She had a slice of toast in her mouth and her backpack hanging off one shoulder when she wrenched the door open to dash off to school. But the moment the door was open, she stopped short when she saw two men blocking her path. In all black suits with dark glasses hiding there eyes. One hand raised as if he were about to knock. 

She blinked at them, toast hanging from her mouth, pony-tail slightly askew. 

"Good morning, young lady." Said one of them. "You must be Kai Green, granddaughter of Wesley Green. Is your grandfather home?"

Kai knew a government stiff when she saw one. So she panted her feet and glared challengingly at them. "If this is about the tribe, my grandpa hold regular office hours from nine to five every weekday as our cultural center. Whatever it is, you can talk to him about it then."

The men in black looked like they were about to reply, but whatever they were gonna say, they didn't get the chance. Wes appeared behind her right then. Placing one firm hand on Kai's shoulder, he eased his granddaughter to the door and the men in black stood aside to let her pass. "Go to school, Kai. Let Grandpa handle this." Then, to the men in black, "Why don't you boys come inside where we can talk unobserved."

Kai exited, they entered. 

But Kai did not rush off to school. Instead, she snuck around the side of the house to the kitchen window which was left open. She crouched down, leaning against the wall where she couldn't be seen from anyone inside the house and settled in to listen. 

Inside, Wes lead the men in black into the kitchen and put on a fresh pot of coffee. "I haven't boy like you since my Plumber days." He said conversationally. In a tone similar to that wistful way people talk about their time in the military or on the force. "I assume this isn't a social call."

"We're hoping to draw you out of retirement." One confirmed with a nod. 

"Passing the Registration Act was just a first step to making Earth safe for Earthlings." Said the other. "The second step is making sure terrestrial law enforcement is actually able to control the extra-human population. To that end, we need people with experience fighting aliens, mutants, and whatever else to train and lead our forces. Since you used to be a Plumber, you are our ideal candidate."

Wes nodded. He imagined as much the moment he saw them at his door. He pored three mugs of coffee. "Cream and sugar?"

"No thank you. We take it black."

Of course they did. Wes added cream and cinnamon to his own coffee before sitting at the table with the two men in black. He set their mugs in front of them and took a sip of his own before saying, "I assume I'm not the only retired Plumber you're calling back into service. What did Max have to say about this?"

"Other agents are contacting Tennyson now."

"Hm." Wes took another sip of his coffee while he thought. 

He had fought plenty of aliens and mutants in his time. A couple of homicidal robots and trans-demential predators too. He certainly had the experience necessary to teach others. But then, did he really want to. Overall, Wes was on the fence about extraterrestrial registration and control. Sure, there were plenty of nasty monsters out there that needed to be either quarantined from the general population or put down all together. But then, there were perfectly rational and upstanding extraterrestrials that lead (more-or-less) ordinary and traditional lives with (mostly) ordinary and traditional nuclear families. Aliens like Devin for one.

Devin Levin had always been a bit of an odd-ball, but then, all his awkwardness and strange quicks could easily be explained by the fact that he just wasn't from around here. But he was always polite and patient. Especially when there was something he didn't understand -which was a lot. He was odd, but he was a good guy and easy to get a long with. A heck of a lot easier to get along with than Phil, that was for sure. And Phil was a completely ordinary human being. 

Phil Billings was temperamental and violent -and a racist asshole. Wes could not even being to count the time Phil tried calling him 'Ingen', 'Redbone', or any number of other racial slurs for a Native American as if he were trying to make them a casual nickname. None of them caught on, thank goodness. Max never followed along and made sure that Devin understood those were not okay things to call a person. 

So, if an alien could be a perfectly fine and upstanding citizen, while an actual native human could be a violent and racist duchebag, what exactly would he be teaching? The way the Forever Partiers talked, one would think it was as simple as 'aliens are bad, humans are good'. But Wes knew for a fact that it wasn't as simple as that. Morality was not drawn along race lines. As with any group, good and bad existed in equal parts. It wasn't enough to be able to just fight aliens. One also needed to be able to tell the difference between a real and terrible planet destroying, baby eating, mass murdering sociopathic, brain-slurping monster, and just a simple cultural misunderstanding. 

Maybe he should take the offer and help train these new kids who thought they could take on alien mutant monsters. If for no other reason than to make sure they knew the difference between evil and just stupid. So that they didn't escalate what was already a tense social and political climate. 

Wes was about to agree.

Then Kai barged into the kitchen.

"I volunteer!" She announced. "I've fought an alien before! When I was ten. With Grandpa's friend Max and his grandkids Ben and Gwen. The same Ben that's been on the news all year. I've worked with him before and I've fought aliens before. I wanna join up."

There was a beat of silence. 

Then, "No." Wes placed both hands on her shoulders and steered her back to the door. "You shouldn't even be here. You're supposed to be in school."

Kai dug her heels and refused to budge. 

"Are you eighteen?" Asked one of the men in black.

"No. She's not." Wes informed them.

"I will be in a few more months." Kai announced. 

Wes grit his teeth. He did not like the direction this conversation was heading. In a few more months, Kai would be eighteen and at the age of legal independence. She could enlist in an alien fighting organization without his permission. He knew that willful independence was a sigh that he'd done his job well and raised her right. But damn it all if it didm;t make his panic to think of her fighting monsters like he used to. Wes couldn't stop her from trying, but he could be there to keep her safe while she did. 

"Then in a few months I'll look for you in my cadet class." He said. Then to the men in black. "I'll do it. I'll take the job. I'll train your new Plumbers or whatever you end up calling them. Your new Terran alien police force. I'll teach them."

"We were hoping you'd say that." They stood from the table. "As one of the few with actual experience with extra-human incidents, you have a lot of freedom as far as writing your own curriculum. But you will have to coordinate with the other trainers."

"Oh! I can be your assistant!" Kai chimed in. "Just like I am when you go on digs."

Wes hoped that not acknowledging her comment would discourage her enthusiasm about fighting aliens. "Who else have you got?"

"As of right now, you, Driscoll and some random farm kid." 

Driscoll? They got Richard Driscoll? Wes knew Driscoll. He used to be a Plumber before he and Max discovered that he was stealing technology from alien perps they arrested and using it for his own selfish -and irresponsible- means. He was discharged from the Plumbers because of it. In fact, that was why they even got Devin anyway. He was the one assigned to Earth to fill the vacant space in their team. Driscoll was dirty. 

But he was also a Forever Knight and a founding member of the Forever Party. Of course they would let him do whatever job he wanted. If he wanted to teach young idiots how to beat-up aliens, then that's what they would let him do. Now, more than ever, Wes was sure he needed to help train these kids. If for no other reason than to make sure they didn't all turn into giant, well armed assholes. 

But, oh god, now he was gonna have to collaborate with Driscoll. Ugh…

"Alright. I guess we'll have a think-tank or something once you get everyone on board."

"We'll be in touch." They shook hands and left. 

Wes rounded on Kai. "You, young lady, have missed all of first period and I will not have you be truant for the whole day. Get you ass to school or else you can kiss your chances of fighting aliens goodbye. Because I'm gonna suggest to the other trainers that we should be able to deny anyone from being a pseudo-Plumber -or whatever they end up calling them. So, you have to show me that you can be responsible and reliable." 

"I can do that." Kai nodded. 

Crossing his arms over his chest, Wes just glared at her. 

"Oh! Oh, right! I'm off to school. By Grandpa!" She dashed off. 

With a sigh Wes sat down at his kitchen table and wondered how in the world he was going to teach veteran cops and young idiot teenagers how to fight aliens, mutants, monsters and robots. 

Then the phone rang. "Green residence."

"Wes." He hadn't heard from Max in a while. Not surprising he was hearing from him on the same day he also got a visit from their old clean-up boys. "I assume they made you the same offer they made me."

"Train their new gestapo." He didn't want to use the word in front of Kai, but that's pretty much what the new recruits would be. After all, what else do you call any group of law enforcement that's specifically trained to 'control' a population. "Yeah. I got the offer. And I told them I'd take it."

"Why?" Max sounded genuinely surprised. 

"So that none of them turn out like Richard or Phil."

...

Keys clacked loudly as Gwen's fingers flew over the keyboard. With one final mouse click she lend back on the heals of her hands and sighed as an immense pressure was breathed out of her. "Last collage application sent!"

And months before the deadlines, too.

Emily looked up from her own laptop. The girls were enjoying a rare day of spending time together without giant alien robot monsters from lost moon of Poosh (or whatever) interrupting and pulling Gwen away. It had become such a rarity that Emily actually got to spend time with her best friend outside of school. Even if they were just filling out collage applications.

"I know that sound." The blond smiled. 

"That was the sound of having all my applications filled out and sent with plenty of time before the deadline." Gwen smiled back. She sat on the floor, her back against the side of Emily's desk. Gwen pushed her laptop off her lap and stretched her legs out in front of her. "And my dad doesn't believe me when I tell him I can do it all online. Apparently, 'back in his day' they had to fill everything out by hand and had to pay for postage to mail them in."

Emily propped an elbow on her desk and gazed down at her friend with an indulgent smile. "I've never gotten a 'back in my day' speech from my parents. What's it like?"

Emily came from a wealthy family. But neither of her parents were really into being parents. While they were still married and had no intensions of becoming divorced, Emily's mother spent a great deal of time in one exotic country or another with a different boyfriend each passport stamp. Her father, while he did know about his wife's wild lifestyle, neither cared, nor was he in a position to do anything about it as he was currently serving time for insider trading, shorting stocks, and fraud. That mostly left Emily alone with the house keeper and a care taker to drive her to school and doctors' appointments. 

"Boring." Gwen supplied. "Really, really boring. And cliche." 

"That is one nice thing about having unconventional parents." Emily sighed, raising her arms over her head to stretch. "At least my parents aren't super-cliche like parents of traditional nuclear families like yours."

"That is true." Gwen agreed. "Speaking of parents, I'm sometimes still surprised by just how chill Kevin's mom is. So, I spent the night with Kevin after his party-"

"Ohmygod! You had sex! And you're only just now telling me!" Emily exclaimed. "What the hell! You were supposed to tell me the moment it happened! Now I have to find a boy friend! Your messing up the plan Gwen. We were supposed to fall in love with two best friends, get married on the same day, and live across the street from each other so our kids can be best friends. You can't toss out your virginity if I don't even have a boyfriend yet!"

Gwen just stared at her. "Okay. Conclusion jump much. First of all, Kevin and I didn't have sex. I'm still stuck with my virginity. Secondly, the point I was going to say was that if a normal parent comes home and finds her son's girlfriend wearing practically nothing, they freak the fuck out. But Mrs. Levin just gave me some talk about being carful because of Kevin's temper and how volatile he is and she doesn't want us to get hurt. Not once did she mention pregnancy, STDs, or that we might be ruining our lives like most parents would." 

"She probably knows you're way to smart to get pregnant." Emily smiled. 

"Of course!" Gwen nodded. "But considering the kind of life we lead, if something goes wrong between Kevin and I -we have a big fight or even break up- he's not very good at compartmentalizing. He won't be able to put whatever we might be fighting about aside during a battle." A shrug. "That. Or he might just go off the seen end again and absorb me. Good luck living with himself after that."

"And its the fact that you can say that so casually that makes me trust him with you." Emily admitted. "If it was a legitimate fear, something you thought he would do again, you wouldn't mention it so offhandedly." 

Gwen was silent a moment longer. "I don't deny that it is possible it might happen again." She had to admit. "But every time Kevin's gone nutty its been because he's already absorbed more energy than his body -and more importantly his mind- could handle. He doesn't go around absorbing that much power on a daily basis, its only happened as a last resort when we were all desperate. Basically, it only happens under rare and specific circumstances. That's why I'm not concerned."

"Mm." Emily stretched again, ready for a subject change. It wasn't that she was sick of hearing about Gwen's boyfriend. It was just that it got annoying hearing her friend talk about him almost constantly while she didn't have a boyfriend at all and didn't even have any boyfriend prospects either. Believe it not, the boys weren't exactly lining up to date the girl in a wheel chair. "I'm gonna go to the piano room. Wanna use you magic to make a ramp for me so I don't have to wait for the slow-ass motor chair."

Another thing Emily found annoying was just how slow the damn motorized chair that carried her up and down the stairs really was. That was when Emily did most of her streaming. Between school, music, and doctors, Emily didn't really have an amazing amount of free time. But she did have a surprising amount of moments traveling to and from school, waiting at the doctors office, or just sitting as she climbed the stairs where there was literally nothing to do. That was when she discovered the wonders of torrents and anime. It was how she watched Princess Tutu, and it was how she was now watching Neon Genesis Evangelion. 

"Alright." Gwen stood. "What kind of ramp are you in the mood for? A stunt ramp? Race ramp? Or just a plain old boring ramp?"

"Stunt ramp, of course!" Emily grinned as if there could be no other option. Just because she was confined to a chair didn't mean she planned to live her whole life sitting down -metaphorically speaking. 

At the top of the landing, Gwen held up a hand and a sheet of star sapphire colored power appeared. Snaking its way from the top of the stairs, curving out to the side, arching back up again only to stop abruptly at a hight of six feet off the ground, and then reappearing again with just enough clearance to finish the jump and allow Emily to roll to the ground safely instead of spilling all over the foyer floor. 

She rolled to the edge of the ramp. "Only a six foot jump, Gwen, really?"

"Maybe you should take it easy some times, Em." Gwen reminded her friend. "You are only human after all."

"Seems like that's becoming a rare thing these days." She scoffed, readjusting her headband to make sure her hair stayed out of her face and slid down the ramp. Ya-hoo!"

She coasted around the curve, adding to her momentum by pushing on her wheels, building up speed for the jump. Emily closed her eyes the moment she felt the ramp under her disappear. For one fleeting moment she was weightless. Then gravity returned and she opened her eyes to make sure she stayed balanced when she made her landing. Once off the ramp, Emily skidded to a stop, leaving dark marks on the white stone floor. 

"That was so awesome!"

Gwen bet her there, taking the more conventional and terrestrial straits to get down. She might be made of pure energy, but that didn't mean she was above mundane things like stairs. Unlike her friend, there was no thrill in using her mana for entertainment and trivialities. "One of these days you're gonna get yourself killed." 

"Everyone gets themselves killed." Emily brushed off the comment. She wheeled herself to the piano room. "Its a by-product of being alive."

Shaking her head, Gwen folioed her friend into the piano room was watched as Emily lifted the lid over the keys and used her hands to position her feet on the pedals. Her fingers started dancing over the keys, playing a new piece Gwen hadn't heard before. It was kind of melancholy but somehow still energetic -upbeat. Kind of like Emily herself was at times. 

"It amazes me how you can say such dark and pessimistic things with such a care-free happy tone." 

"Its not pessimistic." Her eyes were closed as she listened to the notes her fingers struck. "I'm just a realist." 

With a shrug, Gwen sat down to listen to her friend play. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. It definitely wasn't anything from the Renaissance or Baroque eras. It did carry several traits from the Romantic movement, but it still sounded off for the era. It was to modern. It had to be a relatively new piece. "I haven't heard this before. Who's the composer?"

"Oh, this?" Her fingers didn't miss a note. "Its something your friend Cooper introduced me to the night of Kevin's party."

"Oh." Then Gwen got a fantastic idea. Since Emily had just been mentioning that she didn't have a boyfriend… and Cooper was a nice guy, intelligent and well educated… and she wanted to try and integrate her normal friends into her extra-human entourage… "So, what did you think about Cooper?"

This time her fingers missed a note. "He was nice." 

"Ya know, he's single."

Her hand slipped completely, hitting three keys at once and producing a very unpleasant sound. Emily turned to look at her friend. "Are you trying to set me up?"

"I wasn't trying to until just this second." Gwen replied honestly. "And besides, the plan is for us to fall in love with two best friends. Cooper and Kevin are… well, okay, they're not exactly friends. They're more like casual acquaintances. But they get along."

Emily paused, considering. Cooper had been very respectful. They shared an interesting conversation. They had a couple of common interests. He seemed intelligent. He was also rather handsome and that was always a plus. But he didn't really seem very interested in her. He was polite, but he didn't give any signals to indicate his manners were anything more than just that -good manners. He probably didn't see her as dating material because of the chair. 

That was the eternal roadblock for her. Not many guys wanted to deal with the hassle of dating a girl in a wheelchair. Emily didn't blame them. There were some activities that they just couldn't do as a couple. Skying. Scuba diving. Surfing. Base jumping. All the things Emily's mother did with her boyfriends. No one wanted a partner they couldn't go out and have fun with. Emily needed someone who didn't mind staying indoors or on paved roads. Someone who enjoyed sitting down activities like music, literature, art… things that were generally considered 'boring'.

Cooper seemed nice. But then, nice guys came with their own problems. Namely, the last 'nice boy' Emily attempted to date had only gone out with her because he felt bad for her being confined to a chair. It was a pity relationship. With no real basis it had ended quickly and ended badly. 

"I donno…" She said slowly. "Cooper seemed sweet and all. But you remember what happened the last time I tried dating a sweet boy. How do I know Cooper isn't going out with me because he feels obligated to."

"Tell ya what, we'll start off casual. Double dates. You and Cooper with me and Kevin. You two won't be 'dating' so much as hanging out together so that neither of you has to feel like a third wheel to me and Kevin."

Emily considered that for a moment. It sounded alright. And under that kind of context, there shouldn't be any pressure on Cooper to be a 'boyfriend'. They weren't dating, just hanging out as friends. It would allow them to get to know each other without the expectation of romance. Alright. Emily could do that. There was just one thing she needed to know before she jumped on board completely with this plan. 

"Okay. But one thing before we do this. Cooper's mutation. 'Non-combat/Support'. What exactly is his mutation? I mean, he's not like Rouge from X-men, is he?"

"Oh, gosh, no!" Gwen assured her. "No. Cooper's mutation -in addition to above average intelligence- is that he's a technopath. That is, he can control technology -or anything electronic- with his mind. Like telekinesis, but only with machines. A lot of his inventions have actually helped Ben and I save the world. A couple of times. He's kind of a hero."

"Except he isn't constantly running off to fight monsters and missing his friends piano recitals."

"I came in at the end!" Gwen was quick to say. "I didn't miss the whole thing! But, no, Cooper generally doesn't do that. He helps from the side lines."

"Then, okay. Lets have a double date."


	8. Markets

_"For every market a submarket grows. […] Submarket. Sometimes I wonder why I ever got in."_ \- Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich

…

It wasn't so much a 'think tank' as it was an informal meeting. 

There wasn't even a table. Driscoll sat in a lavishly comfortable chair that probably cost as much as the weapons they were going to teach the new recruits to use. He didn't even bother to get up when Wes entered. Just offered a casual salute with his glass. "Green."

"Dick." Wes nodded back. They had a thing back when they were still active Plumbers. Him, Max, Phil, and Richard. Names should be kept down to a single syllable. Something you could gasp out in one breath -in case you had to call for help with your last breath. So, Maxwell became 'Max', Phillip became 'Phil', Wesley became 'Wes' and Richard became 'Dick'. (Later Devin became 'Dev' but that was neither here not there.)

Driscoll made a face of displeasure. He never did appreciate 'Dick' being short for Richard. But he decided to be the bigger man and let it go. Instead, he nodded to the only other person in the room. A young man, he couldn't be any older than his late teens. Dark skinned and dark eyed, wearing well worn blue jeans and a faded John Deer shirt. He looked so out of place amid the opulence of the room. But then again, Wes felt pretty out of place as well. "Have you met the new kid? This is Alan Albright."

Albright stood awkwardly and held out a hand to shake Wes'. He seemed pretty straightforward and honest, bright eyed and energetic. He instantly reminded Wes a little bit of Devin when he was first assigned to their team. Young, eager to make a difference, slightly intimidated by those with more experience, but full of stubborn conference. 

"Pleased to meet you." Wes took the offered hand and noted that it was uncommonly warm. 

"Same." Albright nodded. "I trained a bit with Max. He talked about you a lot."

"Nothing to bad, I hope." Wes put some good humor into his voice. 

"No. He spoke very highly of you." Albright assured him. "He spoke highly of all his old partners."

And Wes couldn't decide if that was a veiled reference to either Dick or Phil, whom threw out their ethics in favor of material rewards, or Devin who died and left behind a son with extra-human powers to grow up without anyone to understand him or teach him to control himself and ultimately became just as terrible a threat as any of the villains they fought. Wes could go either way, really. 

"Well, that's good to know, I guess." He turned his attention back to Driscoll. "Is this everyone that's coming? Just the three of us?"

"I had hoped Max would show up, but -as you can see- he still thinks he's to good for us." Driscoll replied with a shrug. 

No, Wes thought, Max is just to good for you, Dick. 

"Lets get down to business." Driscoll indicated a chair for Wes to sit. "My people already acquired six crates of laser lances to equip our new recruits with. We also have a surplus of armor -some of the insignia will have to be scrapped off, of course."

Of course. Can't have members of law enforcement running around wearing the insignia of a former terrorist organization. But that wasn't the part that made Wes jump back to his feet in alarm. "Wait, wait, wait! You wanna issue laser lances to these kids! Are you insane? The fact that they're level 5 tech aside, have you forgotten about their fatal flaw? If the casing is damaged, the things blow-the-fuck-up and kill anything caught in the blast! Are we teaching special cops, or human barbecue steaks?"

"They are relatively inexpensive and easy to acquire in large quantities quickly." Driscoll reminded him. "Would you like to suggest an alternative? People can't exactly fight aliens with nothing but guts and 'we can do it' speeches."

Wes glared at Driscoll, suddenly reminded of why he was discharged from the Plumbers in the first place. For stealing confiscated alien tech and reselling it for personal profit. Cheap, easy money. Cheap, easy weapons. Cheap, easy power. Cheap and easy. That was what Dick Driscoll was all about. He didn't actually care about safety or security -either for their recruits or the citizens they were supposed to be protecting- he just cared about maximum results with minimum effort. "My granddaughter wants to join this little force you're thinking of handing laser lances to." 

"How about non-lethal weapons?" Albright suggested. "As both a half-alien and a black man, I'd certainly appreciate our extra-human police force using non-lethal equipment and techniques."

Wes nodded with silent agreement. He also belonged to an ethnic minority and more than understood modern contemporary law enforcement's bias against anyone who wasn't a white middle-aged male. 

Driscoll looked between the two of them. Without agreeing to it out loud, the two seemed to have somehow aligned with one another. As the only middle aged white male in the room, he didn't have a hope of going up against two minorities that were already riled. "Why don't we table this discussion for the moment, gentlemen. Its always a little awkward getting off the ground. We'll come back to this discussion once we've settled into our new roles a bit better."

…

ID Mask sales were up. 

In all his years as a smuggler, tech dealer, hitter, wheelman, grifter, and broker, Kevin had never seen such a rise in such a passive, non-lethal, non-aggressive piece of technology. He would have to be stupid not to notice that the rate of sales went up around the same time the ETRA was passed. Suddenly the extraterrestrial community had an even more pressing need to conceal themselves from the rest of Earth society. 

The scary thing was, it wasn't the seedy criminal underbelly of the extra-human community that Kevin normally catered to that were buying up the ID Masks like they were cocaine. No. His customer base had shifted -seemingly over night- from terrorists and pirates, to frightened immigrants or concerned parents who wanted to protect themselves and their loved ones from hostile natives that wanted to do them harm. It was sad. 

And it was terrifying.

The client he was meeting tonight was a Loboan. Kevin used to think the werewolf-like aliens weren't afraid of anybody and could stand up to anything. They were a unique blend of tight knit pack-animal type aliens with powerful family values, and savage predators with aggressive and hostile instincts for hunting, fighting, and self-preservation. However, this particular one seemed only to exhibit the former trait and none of the latter. He was purchasing half a dozen ID Masks for himself, his mate, and their litter of four pups. 

Kevin gave him a discount, although, he didn't tell him he was giving a discount. The Osmosian might be empathetic, but he still had a reputation to protect. When you worked in the circles he worked in, his reputation was just as much an armor as the metals and stones he absorbed. 

They haggled over the price. 

The Loboan left feeling he'd won something in addition to protecting his family, and Kevin left knowing that his reputation as an evil, greedy, money grubbing, hard-ass was upheld. 

It was as he was packing the surplus Masks back in his trunk that his phone rang. 

The caller ID said it was Gwen and for the first time since she and Tennyson crashed his deal between the Forever Knights and the Highbreed, he considered ignoring the call. He was still trying to process what his mother told him the morning after his party -when she caught Gwen wearing nothing more than his dirty t-shirt and an awkward smile. 

Osmosians mated for life. If he had sex with Gwen, he would never be able to look at another woman in the same way again. That in and of itself didn't sound to bad to him. He knew his feelings and was confident in their consistency. He loved Gwen. He wanted to sleep with Gwen. Not because he was a horny teenager -although, that was certainly part of it- but because he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and so there was no reason not to sleep with her. But while Osmosians mated for life, humans did not -neither did Anodites for that matter. So, while he had every conference in the depth and consistency of his feelings, he had no such assurances of Gwen's. 

His mother was right. They were still young. Gwen could out-grow him. Gwen could leave him. Kevin wasn't stupid, he already knew she was to good for him. Not just morally or ethically 'good', but better than him. From a better family. More educated. Intelligent. Beautiful. Stable. Termperant. Law abiding. Everything society judged the value of an individual on, she was better than him. One day, Gwen would wake up and realize she had absolutely no reason to stay with him and absolutely every reason to leave. They were to different and he didn't deserve her. 

Kevin took so long debating whether or not to answer her call, that it went to voicemail.

With a sigh he put the phone back in his pocket and drove to his next meeting. 

She tried again while he was in the car, his phone routing the call through his car's stereo system. If he let it go to voicemail again, she would know he was ignoring her, so with a sigh, Kevin tapped the button on his steering wheel that answered the phone. "Hey, babe! Sorry I missed your first call. I was just finishing up with a client."

"I figured that was it." He could hear the smile in her voice. He might suddenly be plagued with misgivings about their relationship and where it might take them, but for right now, at this moment, she had every conference in them. "Listen, are you free this Saturday?"

In all honesty, he hadn't made plans yet. Business was good and he was committed to three other deals in the coming week and a fourth still up in the air. But, so far, nothing was scheduled for Saturday. So he was free to go on a date with her. 

But with his mother's warning still fresh in his mind, Kevin wasn't sure if it was wise to allow himself to be alone with her. His self-control had never been all that great. In fact, if it wasn't for Gwen's strict 'clothes stay on' policy, Kevin was pretty sure he would have stuck it in her like a dozen times already. She was really the one in control of their relationship and how fast or slow they took things. He had no control, over himself or their pace. On his birthday she finally waved her 'clothes stay on' rule. How soon would it be before she decided she didn't need to wait until she was eighteen to go full penetration either?

So, without committing to anything one way or another, he asked, "What'd you have in mind?"

"I'm trying to set Emily up with Cooper." She informed him, and that came as a surprise because Kevin could not imagine a thing the two of them had in common. Gwen's friend Emily was an aspiring classical musician with rich parents, and Cooper was a basement-dwelling computer nerd who worked part-time as a Plumber officer. Aside from the fact that they were both blond, they had nothing in common. 

"Really?"

But, then again, on the outside, he and Gwen had seemingly nothing in common either. Maybe it wasn't so much the things you had in common with a person, but how much you enjoyed being around them. Goodness knew, some of Kevin's favorite times spent with Gwen were times when they were doing their own separate things in the same room. In his garage, working on his car while she typed up her homework or researched whatever Big Bad Tennyson was fighting that week. Siting on the couch watching a horror movie while she read a decidedly less exciting book. Pursuing separate interests, but still spending time together. Those were the best parts of a relationship.

"Yeah! Why not? I think they'll be cute together." She assured him. "Anyway, I figure a double date would be a safe enough place to start. You and me, and Em and Cooper. So, are free?"

Well, his mother did say it was okay to keep seeing Gwen so long as they were chaperoned. A double date counted as being chaperoned. "Sure, babe." 

"Great!" And he lamented the fact she wasn't in car with him. If her voice was any indication, the smile she was giving must be radiant. Gwen always had the prettiest smiles. "Emily and I will probably get ready at her house. So you can either pick up up from there, or we can all meet up at wherever we decide to go -not the auto show. We can work out the detail later." A pause. "Was your mom really mad at you after I left?"

Whoa, subject change. Kevin would have been thrown off kilter if she hadn't been asking about a subject he himself spent the past couple of days dwelling on. "No. She wasn't mad. Just disappointed. My likes you, remember. I'm the bad element."

"Don't be silly. You're not a bad element!" And she sounded offended on his behalf. If was nice to see that she would always defend him, even from himself. "I don't date 'bad boys'."

Lies. But it was sweet all the same. It did make him wonder, though… "Hey, babe, the other night… When I said I loved you, how come you didn't say it back?"

"What?" Startled, taken aback. She hadn't expected the question. "I did."

"No." Kevin shook his head, knowing she couldn't see the action. "You said 'I already knew that', then we did a very fun sixty-nine. You never said you loved me back."

That, right there, was the main reason why he was suddenly paged with misgivings. He loved Gwen. But what would happen if he tied himself to her when she didn't fully love him back? She might leave him. And then, him being himself, he wold go crazy and… do something he would regret. 

"You sound upset." Gwen observed and he wondered how she could tell just from his voice. He wasn't shouting or growling. He was just asking. "Maybe this is a conversation we should save until we can talk in person again." 

"Alright, fine." He agreed, only because he wanted to see her face. "I've got a second client lined up and don't have time to talk anyway. I'll call you tomorrow."

He hung up. 

The car pulled into another deserted ally. 

This time it was a Lewodan purchasing two masks for herself and her sister. Again, not a member of the seedy criminal underbelly of the extra-human community that Kevin was used to dealing to, but just a normal, semi-legal, mostly law abiding alien who was just looking out for herself and her family. Kevin haggled with her too, but ultimately ended up giving her a lower price than he would have given to his regular clientele. Being a bad guy with scrupuls wasn't nearly as profitable as being an unscrupulous bad guy. The money was much better before he started developing this irritating streak of morality.

Sometimes he wondered why he still did this at all. 

But then the client would turn to leave and their shoulders would lift, like a weight had been taken off of them. They were safe. Their mates or children, or siblings were safe. And Kevin made that possible. It wasn't why he got into buying and selling contraband alien tech, but that was definitely why he stayed.


End file.
